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AMERICA 



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NEW YORK • CINCINNATI • CHICAGO 
AMERICAN ■ BOOK » COMPANY 



SERIES O] 
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Thirty More Famoi 
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For latest additions see inside back cover. 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



MAKERS AND DEFENDERS 



OF 



AMERICA 



BY 
ANNA ELIZABETH FOOTE 

n 
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, TRAINING SCHOOL EOR TEACHERS 
JAMAICA, NEW YORK 

AND 
AVERY WARNER SKINNER 

STATE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 
ALBANY, NEW YORK 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 






Copyright, iqio, by 
ANNA ELIZABETH FOOTE and AVERY W. SKINNER 



MAKERS AND DEFENDERS OF AMERICA 
W. P. I 



©CLA2780G2 



\ 



PREFACE 

This volume is the second of a series of two books, intended 
to present in a simple manner the history of America by means 
of the biographies of the men who found and made it. Each 
volume, however, is entirely independent, so that the books 
can be used separately where desired. The first book, "Ex- 
plorers and Founders of America," traced our history from its 
beginnings, in the travels of Marco Polo and the voyages of 
the Northmen, through the period of exploration and settlement 
to the end of the French and Indian War. It told the stories 
of the Spanish adventurers who, in their lust for gold, conquered 
empires, only to lose them again through misuse of power; of 
the hardy French voyageurs who sought to plant the cross of 
Christ and the lilies of France in a New World and who, in the 
fulfillment of their purpose, explored the great river systems of 
the middle West; of the sturdy Dutch farmers who laid well 
the foundations of the Empire State; and of our English ances- 
tors who found broad acres and fertile fields awaiting them in 
their new home across the sea. Some of them were men of action, 
brave and sometimes cruel, who sought fresh fields of adventure; 
others were colony builders, who strove to establish settlements 
where they might worship God untrammeled by the faiths of 
the Old World. 

The second volume continues the series of historical biog- 
raphies begun in "Explorers and Founders of America." It 
commences, where that book ended, with the close of the French 
and Indian War, and treats characters typical of a movement or 
of a period up to the present time. It traces the growth of our 
nation through the lives of its great leaders, men of thought, 
whose ideas shaped the pohcies and established the present 

5 



6 PREFACE 

prosperity of our country. While in the main the emphasis is 
placed on the personal element, softie narrative of events has 
seemed advisable. In this way a continuous story is made 
possible without losing the idea of personality which attracts 
the youthful mind. The sketches include not only the lives of 
great statesmen and of military heroes, but also biographies of 
some of the men and women whose philanthropy has made our 
country happier or whose inventive genius has advanced its 
civilization and, with it, the civilization of the world. It is 
hoped that these triumphs of peace and of constructive states- 
manship, as well as the stirring days and brave deeds of war, will 
appeal to growing boys and girls. If the lives of these men and 
the records of the past arouse a love of country, teach the value 
of courage and of self-denial, and mold character, this little 
book will justify its existence. The authors desire to acknowl- 
edge the courtesy of Mr. Thomas A. Edison, of Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie, and of Admiral George B. Dewey in revising the 
sketches relating to them. We are also under obligation to 
Miss Clara Barton for the principal facts in the story of her Hfe. 

It may be noted that, while this book is fitted for use in any 
grammar grade, it conforms fully to the requirements for the 
sixth grade work in history as outlined in the syllabus for ele- 
mentary schools, issued by the Education Department of the 
State of New York. It also covers the sixth grade work for the 
schools of the city of New York. 

We have striven to create the historical atmosphere. We 
have used the material necessary to weave a story concrete 
enough for children to share the experience and participate in 
the events narrated. Our aim has been to make the characters 
real to the child, for by doing so we shall lay a foundation and 
arouse a love for the further study of history. 

Anna Elizabeth Foote, 
Avery Warner Skinner. 



CONTENTS 



Navy 



Causes of the Revolution . 
Patrick Henry . . . 

Samuel Adams 

War Begins — Lexington and Concord 

Battle of Bunker Hill 
George Washington, the Young Virginian 
George Washington, Soldier and Statesman 
Schuyler and Saratoga — 1777 . 
General Nathanael Green 
Nathan Hale — The Martyr Spy 
John Paul Jones — Founder of the American 

The Critical Period 

Thomas Jefferson 

Alexander Hamilton 

Daniel Boone and Western Settlements . 
The War of 181 2 

Naval Heroes of the War of 181 2 — Oliver Hazard 
Perry and Battle of Lake Erie 

Macdonough and the Battle of Lake Champlain 
Lafayette — A Loyal Friend to the United States 
Andrew Jackson — War Hero and President 
Henry Clay, the Great Peacemaker 
Daniel Webster, the Defender of the Constitution 
Inventions and Inventors 

Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin 

Elias Howe 

7 



PAGE 

9 

13 

20 

30 

34 
38 
51 
74 



103 
III 
117 
129 
141 
149 

152 
156 
162 
168 
178 
191 
205 
205 
209 



CONTENTS 



Commerce and Travel . ... 

Robert Fulton and the Steamboat 
The Erie Canal — Clinton's Great Work 
George Stephenson and the Steam Railway 

Abraham Lincoln 

Grant, The Silent Leader .... 

Robert E. Lee, The Captain of the Boys in Gray 

Admiral Farragut and the Work of the Navy 
Other Naval Exploits .... 
Captain Winslow and the Alabama 
Lieutenant Gushing and the Albemarle 

Clara Barton and the Red Cross Society 

The Period of Transition and Development 
Cyrus Hall McCormick and the Reaper 

Morse and the Electric Telegraph . 

Edison and the Electric Light . 

Admiral Dewey and the Spanish War 

Andrew Carnegie — the Philanthropist . 



PAGE 
213 
213 
219 
223 
230 

274 
288 
294 

296 
298 
302 

309 
317 
323 
330 



MAKERS AND DEFENDERS OF 
AMERICA 

CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 

We sometimes forget, in our enjoyment of free schools, 
free churches, and a free press, that there was a time in the 
history of our country when personal liberty existed only in 
a limited degree. Less than a hundred and fifty years ago 
we had no separate, independent government, but were Brit- 
ish subjects. There was no United States and no President, 
but, instead, thirteen separate colonies ruled by governors 
sent over by George III, the king of Great Britain, or king 
of England, as he is more often called. As most of the 
colonists were English, either by birth or by descent, they 
were loyal to the mother country and regarded their king 
with affection and respect. At banquets a toast was always 
drunk to the health of the king, statues were erected in his 
honor, and the bands played "God save the King" as to-day 
they play "America," or "The Star Spangled Banner." 

How the colonists gradually lost their love for their king, 
and how the spirit of liberty gradually grew among them, is 
an interesting and sometimes a sad story. Let us consider 
some of the causes which led the Americans to cast off their 
allegiance to England and to establish an independent nation. 

By the treaty of 1763 which closed the French and Indian 
War, England gained from France, Canada and the land 

9 



lO JAMES OTIS 

claimed by her east of the Mississippi River. England knew 
that this territory must be protected or the French in time 
would reconquer it. Money was needed for the 10,000 
soldiers that were sent to America for that purpose. Eng- 
land was in debt and this debt was due largely to the war 
that had concerned the colonies. She reasoned, also, that 
the presence of the soldiers would be a protection to the 
colonists, hence they should contribute to the support of 
them. 

To help raise the money, the English government, then 
under the influence of King George and the ministers he 
appointed, revived old navigation laws, one of which, called 
the Sugar and Molasses Act, led to much trouble. This law 
placed a tax on all sugar and molasses that came from any 
place but the British West Indies. The people of New Eng- 
land had long carried on a flourishing trade with the French 
West Indies, exchanging almost worthless salt fish for sugar 
and molasses which they distilled into rum. This rum they 
took to the African coasts and exchanged for negroes whom 
they brought back and sold as slaves in the South. As the 
profits from this traffic would be greatly reduced by the tax, 
they tried to evade it by smuggling. 

The English officers were almost powerless to enforce the 
law. Therefore they made use of general search warrants 
called Writs of Assistance. These writs difi'ered from the reg- 
ular search warrants in that they contained neither the name 
of the informer nor the description of the property to be 
searched. A man having such a writ could search any 
man's property at any time. The people of New England 
bitterly resented this practice. James Otis, a young lawyer, 
then holding an office under the government, resigned his 
position in order to plead the cause of the people. He 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUllON 



II 




James Otis 



declared that the use of Writs of Assistance was an act of 

tyranny similar to the abuse of power that had cost one 

king of England his head and another his throne. He also 

claimed that such writs violated the 

rights that Englishmen had enjoyed 

for more than five hundred years. 

The speeches of James Otis were very 

bold, and are considered by some as 

being the first step of tlie American 

Revolution. 

Many men accused of smuggling 
were tried in courts without a jury. 
This was another serious grievance, 
for the colonists claimed that as Eng- 
lishmen they should not be punished 
except by the judgment of their equals. 

By 1765 the English Parliament ^ saw that the trade laws 
had not only failed to bring in the necessary money, but had 
stirred up a rebellious spirit among the colonists. The 
Stamp Act was then passed as a substitute. This act pro- 
vided that every legal document, deed, pamphlet, almanac, 
or newspaper must be written or printed on stamped paper. 
The prices of the stamps varied from half a cent to fifty 
dollars. 

The Stamp Act was passed in March and was to go into 
effect the first of November, 1765. When the news reached 
America, the disapproval was more widespread than that 
caused by the trade laws. Whereas those laws had affected 
principally merchants and shippers in the seaport towns, 

1 Parliament is the lawmaking body of England, as Congress is of the 
United States. It consists of a hereditary House of Lords and a House of 
Commons elected by the people. 



12 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



the Stamp Act would affect all classes of business men, in- 
cluding those in the interior town^and cities. Indeed, every 
man who bought a newspaper would be reminded that he 
was taxed by a government outside of America. James Otis 
spoke and wrote against this law and aroused people through- 
out New England; but the work of Patrick Henry of Vir- 
ginia is more important. 



p&swe^ 





SJ 



/OneX 
{Penny] 

T 



Stamps used in 1765 



PATRICK HENRY 

Patrick Henry was the son of a Scotch lawyer, and was 
born in Virginia in 1736. As a boy he cared little for study, 
and, although he was tutored and sent to school, he made 
little progress. He loved out-of-door life. He took long 
solitary tramps in the woods. He spent many summer days 
fishing and became a boon companion of the trappers in his 
neighborhood. All of this freedom had its influence on the 
growing boy. Through it he gained robust health and a 
frank, independent way of looking at life. 

When Patrick was fifteen, his father put him in a country 
store. Remaining here a year, he then began business for him- 
self. This, however, was not to his taste, and after a year 
and a half he gave it up as a failure. For the next six years 
he tried various lines of employment, but found nothing that 
appealed to him. He had become a great reader and was 
especially fond of history. He had a fme musical voice, and 
was regarded as a good speaker and a clever reasoner. At 
twenty-three, he began to study law, and after a very short 
time he was admitted to the bar. At last he had found his 
vocation. He may have moved juries more by his manner of 
speaking than by his knowledge of law, but he certainly won 
cases, and as a result his business grew rapidly. 

In May, 1765, after the passage of the Stamp Act, Patrick 
Henry, then twenty-nine years of age, became a member of 
the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, which was then the 
capital of Virginia. The historian Cooke says he was " tall 

13 



14 



PATRICK HENRY 



in figure but stooping, with a grim expression, small blue 
eyes which had a peculiar twinkle, and wore a brown wig 
without powder, a peach-blossom coat and yarn stockings." 




House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, Virginia 

At this time the Stamp Act was the most absorbing topic 
in men's minds. It was objectionable to all people, but what 
could be done about it? There were in the House of Bur- 
gesses many wealthy planters who considered it less obnox- 
ious than the trade laws. Others saw in the law a violation 
of the rights of the colonists. Among that number was the 
recently elected young lawyer, Patrick Henry. He was 
eager that Virginia should place herself at once on record as 
decidedly opposed to the law. 

Finally, after three weeks of much talk and no action, 
impatient over the attitude of the leaders, Patrick Henry 
hastily wrote on the blank leaf of an old law book some 
resolutions, then sprang to his feet and ofifered them to the 
House. These resolutions stated that by the charters granted 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



15 




to the colonists, they were 
to enjoy the rights of Eng- 
hsh subjects. One cher- 
ished right of Enghshmen 
was to be taxed only by 
their representatives. As 
the colonists were not rep- 
resented in Parliament, 
they could be taxed only by 
the colonial legislatures. 

A hot debate followed, 
during which Patrick 
Henry made a most re- 
markable speech. He 
closed with the words: 
"Caesar had his Brutus, 
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third — " 
"Treason!" ^ "Treason!" was shouted through the room. 
The young orator paused a moment and glanced at the angry 

1 In the United States, treason consists in taking up arms against the 
United States or in giving aid to the enemy in time of war; and its punishment 
is death. In the days of Patrick Henry, many lesser offenses were regarded 
as treason. 



Patrick Henry's Speech 



1 6 . PATRICK HENRY 

and excited Burgesses, then continued — " George the Third 
may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the 
most of it." The resolutions were passed. 

The fearless but inexperienced young man had won a 
great victory. Couriers and newspapers carried to every 
part of the colonies news of Patrick Henry's speech and the 
action of the Virginia House of Burgesses. The spirit of 
resistance to the Stamp Act grew. In October, a Congress 
was called in New York which passed formal resolutions 
declaring the rights of the colonists as Englishmen and stat- 
ing how those rights had been violated. These resolutions 
were sent to the king and to Parliament. 

The Stamp Act was to go into effect on November first. 
That day was observed as a day of mourning in all the cities. 
Funeral processions paraded the streets, bells tolled, and 
flags floated at half-mast. Newspapers were printed with 
black borders, and all business was suspended for the day, 
because liberty was dead. By this time merchants had 
agreed to import no more goods from England. The natural 
result of this was an injury to English trade with the colonies, 
and English merchants joined with the colonists in petition- 
ing Parliament to repeal the law. It was at this time that 
Benjamin Franklin appeared before the House of Com- 
mons and pleaded for fair treatment of the Americans. 
Finally, Parliament yielded in March of the following year 
and repealed the Stamp Act, but at the same time asserted 
England's right to tax the colonies whenever she wished. 

Patrick Henry's work was not yet done. Ten years later, 
when the tea tax and other objectionable measures had been 
passed by Parliament, and when 3000 soldiers had been sent 
to compel the people of Massachusetts to obey them, the First 
Continental Congress was called. Patrick Henry was a dele- 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 17 

gate from Virginia and made the opening speech, in which 
he said, "I am not a Virginian, but an American." This 
Congress drew up some formal petitions to the king and 
Parh'ament in which they stated plainly their objections to 
recent acts and in most dignified language asked for fair 
treatment. The Congress then adjourned to meet again the 
next year. 

About this time, the royal governor of Virginia had dis- 
missed the House of Burgesses because they had expressed 
sympathy for Massachusetts. This 
aroused bitter feeling, and a conven- 
tion of leading men was called at 
Richmond. Here again was Patrick 
Henry a leader. Some men favored 
immediate steps to protect life, lib- 
erty, and property. Others advised 
waiting, believing that the English 
government would never harm her 
colonies. Patrick Henry believed 
that war was sure to come and that 

,_. . . Patrick Henry 

Virgmia must prepare at once to 

defend herself. He saw that the harsh measures of King 
George HI in dealing with Massachusetts and in punishing 
Boston, which the king regarded as the hotbed of the revo- 
lutionary spirit, were a menace to the liberties of the other 
colonies. After listening to the endless talk of his colleagues, 
he arose and spoke as if inspired. At the first sound of his 
voice, men turned and listened with breathless attention as 
he said: 

"We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An 
appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left 
us! There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! 

MAK. & DEF. — 2 




1 8 PATRICK HENRY 

Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the 
plains of Boston! The war is inevitable, and let it come! 
I repeat it, sir, let it come! 

" Gentlemen may cry peace, peace — but there is no 
peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that 
sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of 
resounding arms! Our brethren are already on the field! 
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? 
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, 
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery ? For- 
bid it. Almighty God! I know not what course others may 
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" 

This speech moved men to action not only in Virginia but 
all through the colonies, just as they had been moved ten 
years before. Three weeks later, Lexington and Concord 
had been fought, and the Revolutionary War had begun. 
Patrick Henry was made commander of Virginia's forces, but 
he was needed more in the councils of men than on the field 
of battle. 

He served as the first governor of Virginia and occupied 
many other prominent positions in his state. It is interest- 
ing to note that he refused positions of honor and power 
under the new federal government because he did not believe 
in it. Neither money nor honors could tempt Patrick Henry 
to support any measure of which he disapproved. At the 
same time nothing could hinder him from speaking out 
fearlessly against illegal acts and unnecessary oppression. 
He died at the age of sixty-three, enjoying the gratitude of 
all Americans for his courage in demanding the rights of 
free men. 

Topical Outline. — England sent 10,000 soldiers to hold the land ac- 
quired from France. Money to help pay these soldiers raised by taxes. 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



19 



(a) Sugar and Molasses Tax; (b) Stamp Tax. Colonists complained of 
(a) Writs of Assistance; (b) Trial without jury; (c) Taxation without 
representation. Patrick Henry's resolutions. 

For Written Work. — Write from memory Patrick Henry's war 
speech before the convention at Richmond. 

Map Work. — Locate Williamsburg and Richmond (p. 92). 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Cooke, "Stories of the Old Dominion," pp. 159-180. 
Biography. — Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," 
pp. 92-112; Patrick Henry, " Thj War Inevitable." 




Lantern used at Celebration 
of the Repeal of the Stamp Act 



SAMUEL ADAMS 

While Patrick Henry was urging the people of Virginia 
to protect their rights as EngHshmen, there were men in New 
England working just as earnestly for the same cause. One 
of these men was Samuel Adams, who was born in 1722, 
fourteen years earlier than Patrick Henry. Although these 
two men had much the same ideas about government and 
showed the same unselfish spirit in their efforts to improve it, 
they were very different in habit and training. 

We find Samuel Adams as a little boy showing great fond- 
ness for -his books. His father was a prosperous gentleman 
of Boston, living in a fine house and able to give his son the 
best school advantages. The boy accepted them and used 
them well. There is a story that he was so punctual in 
going to school that people set their clocks and men reg- 
ulated their work by him, saying: "Sam Adams has gone 
to school, it's time for business." This may be only an 
idle tale, but undoubtedly there is some good reason for its 
being told. Samuel Adams loved books and study. He was 
diligent, silent, and thoughtful long before he became a man. 
All his life he was fond of quoting . Greek and Latin, and his 
quotations showed wide reading in those languages. He was 
graduated from Harvard College when he was eighteen, but 
he remained three years longer and continued his studies for 
a master's degree. 

His family wished him to study for the ministry, but he 
preferred law. As his parents obiected to his becoming a 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



21 



lawyer, he went into business with his father. He had httle 
taste for a business hfe, and undoubtedly an excellent lawyer 
was lost to the world when Samuel Adams was compelled to 
share his father's work. His reading and study continued 
along lines of his- 



tory, politics, and 
law, and his busi- 
ness was neglected. 
Samuel Adams 
was a prominent 
figure in the town 
meetings from the 
time he was a very * 
young man. He 
came into special 
notice when he pro- 
tested against the 
Stamp Act. Like 
Patrick Henry, he 
spoke and wrote 
against the injustice 
of this tax. He 
boldly declared that 

if the kino- and Par- Samuel Adams going to School 

liament could le\7 such a tax they would soon assert the right 
to tax everything that the colonies possessed. Not content 
with words he helped to organize the " Sons of Liberty," a soci- 
ety banded together to destroy the stamped paper as soon as it 
arrived. This organization soon spread to the other colonies. 
It is claimed that Samuel Adams first proposed the Stamp 
Act Congress, which issued a Declaration of Rights and sent 
to the king and to the House of Commons a protest, couched 




22 SAMUEL ADAMS 

in respectful language, against the hated measure. He organ- 
ized Committees of Correspondence with the other colonies 
to get united action against the tyranny of Parliament. 

How the opposition to the Stamp Act, not only in the col- 
onies but also in England, soon brought about its repeal has 
been told in the story of Patrick Henry. But England did 
not give up the right to tax the colonies. Other measures were 
passed by Parliament, chief among which was a tax on tea, 
glass, paper, and painters' colors imported into the colonies. 
This measure was equally hateful to the colonists, and the 
spirit of resistance became so great that in 1769 two regi- 
ments of English soldiers were sent to Boston to overawe 
the people. The royal Governor Hutchinson was very glad 
to have them ,to help him enforce the laws. These soldiers 
should have been stationed in the empty barracks at Castle 
William in the harbor, but instead quarters were hired for 
them in the city. The people were naturally indignant, and 
very soon let the soldiers know how unwelcome they were. 
Even schoolboys would use the "redcoat" as a target for 
snowballs and bean shooters. On the other hand, the sol- 
diers raced horses on Sunday through the streets of Boston 
and played and sang all sorts of improper songs before the 
church doors at the time of Sunday services. There were 
frequent encounters between citizens and soldiers. About 
this time, James. Otis, the man who opposed the Writs of 
Assistance, was attacked and cut on the head during a dis- 
pute with a customs officer. The injury was so great that 
he suffered from it for the rest of his long life. People did 
not easily forget such things. 

One day in March, 1770, serious trouble grew out of a 
trifling incident. A rope maker and a soldier got into a quar- 
rel on the street, and an excited crowd soon collected and 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



23 



hurled stones, sticks, snowballs, and chunks of ice at the sol- 
diers who came to their comrade's assistance. The soldiers 
fired; three citizens were killed and eight were wounded. 
This is called the Boston Massacre. 

A town meeting was held the next day in Faneuil Hall, and 




The Boston Massacre 

Samuel Adams was appointed to demand the withdrawal 
of the troops. He went to Governor Hutchinson, who said 
he would withdraw one regiment. Adams repHed, "If you 
have power to remove one regiment you have power to remove 
two, and nothing less will satisfy the people." Both regi- 
ments were at once removed to Castle William, where they 
should have been stationed seventeen months before. This 
was regarded as a most decided victory for the patriots. 

It was clearly understood by this time that the colonists 
did not object so much to paying taxes as to the principle of 
being taxed by the English Parliament in which they were 
not represented. The king and Parliament believed that 



24 SAMUEL ADAMS 

they had a right to tax the colonists, and they wanted to 
maintain that right. As the colonists refused to buy the 
things taxed by Parhament, the tax was now dropped on 
everything except tea. For the king often said, "There must 
be one tax to keep the right to tax." 

In the fall of 1773 a rumor reached America that several 
cargoes of tea were soon to be forced on the colonies. The 
Committees of Correspondence, under the direction of Sam- 
uel Adams, wrote to all the cities to refuse the tea. Societies 
were formed of men and women who pledged themselves to 
use no tea so long as it was taxed, although the tax was very 
small. 

One tea ship reached Boston, November 28, 1773. A town 
meeting of 5000 people was at once held, which voted to send 
the tea back to England. A guard of twenty-five citizens 
went on board the vessel to prevent the landing. Armed men 
watched the wharf, sentinels were stationed in church bel- 
fries, postriders were chosen with horses saddled and bridled, 
ready to give the signal if the officers attempted to land the 
tea. The ship could not return to England without clear- 
ance papers, and the royal governor would not give them. 

On the nineteenth day after the arrival of the tea ship, 
another great mass meeting was held in the Old South 
Church. A man had been sent to the royal governor to urge 
him to order the ship back to England. When the hiessenger 
returned and reported to the meeting that the governor 
refused, Samuel Adams rose and said, "This meeting can 
do no more to saye the country." 

Arrangements had been made to save the country in 
another way if the governor refused to do as the people 
requested. On the signal from Samuel Adams, men, dressed 
Hke Indians, gathered from all parts of Boston and rushed to 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



25 



the wharf. What they did is simply told by the captain of 
the tea ship in his journal. " Between six and seven o'clock 
this evening came down to the wharf a body of about a 
thousand people; among them were a number dressed and 
whooping like Indians. They came on board ship, and after 




Throwing the Tea Overboard 

warning myself and the custom-house officer to get out of the 
way, they went down the hold where were the chests of tea 
which they hoisted up on deck, and cut the chests to ])ieces 
and hove the tea all overboard, where it was damaged and 
lost." Two other tea ships that had arrived in the mean- 
while were treated in the same way. 

Before nine o'clock that night, 342 chests of tea had been 
cut open, and tea had been made with salt water on a large 
scale. It was an orderly band of '' Indians " that did this work. 
One spectator said that an Indian blanket slipped down 
and showed the crimson velvet sleeve and point lace ruffles 



26 SAMUEL ADAMS 

of John Hancock's regular costume. We are told that, "Not 
a person was harmed; no other property was injured; and 
the vast crowd, looking upon the scene from the wharf in the 
clear frosty moonlight, was so still that the click of the 
' Indians' ' hatchets could be distinctly heard." 

The next morning, Samuel Adams wrote a formal account 
of the work of the night before, and postriders were sent to 
the other colonies with it. His cousin John Adams wrote in 
his diary, " Last night three cargoes of tea were emptied into 
the sea. This morning a man-of-war sails. This is the 
most magnificent move of all. There is a dignity, a majesty, 
a sublimity in this last effort of the patriots that I greatly 
admire. The people should never rise without doing some- 
thing to be remembered — something notable and striking. 
This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, so 
intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so important conse- 
quences, and so lasting, that I cannot but consider it an epoch 
in history." 

When the report of this "tea party" reached England, the 
government was most indignant. Parliament passed a bill 
closing the port of Boston to all vessels. The royal governor 
was recalled, and General Gage, the commander of the Eng- 
lish troops in America, was ordered to Boston as military 
governor. 

Samuel Adams then drew up an appeal to the colonies, 
saying: "They have ordered our port to be entirely shut 
up, leaving us barely so much as to keep us from perishing 
with cold and hunger. . . . The act fi.lls the inhabit- 
ants with indignation. This attack though made immedi- 
ately upon us, is doubtless designed for every other colony 
who shall not surrender their sacred rights and liberties. 
Now, therefore, is the time when all should be united in 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



27 



opposition to this violation of the h'berties of all." Replies 
came from all the colonies, heartily approving the conduct of 
Boston. Money and food supplies were sent to the people 
in and around the city. Such generosity might prevent the 
people from suffering through want, but it could not diminish 
the bitterness felt against England for passing such a law. 
Through the Committees of Correspondence Samuel Adams 
urged the meeting of a Continental Congress in the fall of 
1774. It was a remark- 
ably self-controlled, well- 
bred body of men. They 
opposed any hasty con- 
duct that might bring on 
war with the mother coun- 
try, but they believed that 
war must come and it was 
better to be prepared for 
it. First, however, they 
would petition the Eng- 
lish government for better 
treatment. In the meanr 
time they recommended 
the collection of arms and 
supplies at convenient 
places for self-defense. 

They also approved of statue of Minuteman at Concord 

the trainbands of minutemen and urged that more be or- 
ganized. 

These minutemen were farmers and villagers, men and 
boys, organized in companies that ''exercised" after the day's 
work was over. They were pledged to be ready on a minute's 
notice. Massachusetts had about 1800 of them early in 1775. 




28 SAMUEL ADAMS 

The following extracts are from the diary of a young minute- 
man: 

"Jan. II, 1775 — We went to the training field near Rev. 
Barnes' meeting-house. There were three companies of 
minute men. We were marched into the meeting-house. 
A prayer was made, the scripture was read and a lecture 
delivered to us by the Rev. Barnes. We then were marched 
out and exercised some more on the green. 

"Jan. 17. — We exercised in a new way today called the 
64th. 

"Feb. 8. — I wrought on cartridge boxes all day. In the 
evening I cast bullets in the sand. 

"Feb. 13. — In the forenoon I made my sword belt and 
bayonet belt. In the afternoon I made cartridge boxes and 
went to training early. 

"March 21. — I spent the whole morning scowering and 
cleaning my gun and fixing her. After I had cleaned and 
oyled the lock, I put in a good flint and tried to burn three 
corns of powder. I cocked her and snapped and she burnt 
them." 

In this First Continental Congress, as well as later Con- 
gresses, Samuel Adams was an important figure. The king 
and Parliament, recognizing how powerful was his influence 
throughout New England, had urged the governor to win 
him over to the side of the royalists. Adams was known to 
be a poor man, so positions carrying large salaries were offered 
him from time to time, but he always recognized the offer as 
a bribe and scorned it. 

Finally, in 1775, the king wanted to be rid of such powerful 
enemies as Adams and John Hancock, so he ordered General 
Gage to have them arrested and sent to England for trial. 
But this was found impossible, for neither man had over- 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



29 



stepped the law. The king then ordered their capture, dead 
or alive; but this order was not carried out, as we shall learn 
from the Battle of Lexington. 

War came, and, like Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams had 
to serve in the council room instead of on the battlefield. 
From the first of the trouble with England he had urged 
independence, and prob- 
ably no man in the Sec- 
ond Continental Con- 
gress felt happier than he 
over the work of July 4, 
1776. After the war he 
was governor of Massa- 
chusetts several terms, 
and in 1796 he received 
a few votes for the presi- 
dency. He retired from 
public life at seventy-five 
and died at eighty-two. 

The following tells how 
he looked at seventy: "He 
always walked with his 
family to and from church 

until his failing strength prevented. His stature was a little 
above medium height. He wore a tie-wig, cocked hat, buckled 
shoes, knee breeches and a red cloak, and held himself very 
erect, with the ease and address of a pohte gentleman. . . . 
He never wore glasses in public, except when engaged in his 
official duties at the state house. His complexion was florid 
and his eyes dark blue. The eyebrows were heavy, almost 
to bushiness, and contrasted remarkably with the clear fore- 
head, which at the age of 70 had few wrinkles. He had a 




Samuel Adams 



30 



SAMUEL ADAMS 



kind but careworn expression blended with native dignity of 
countenance, which never failed to -impress strangers." 

Although Samuel Adams was connected with political life 
and held the highest offices of his state, he remained a poor 
man all his life. Truly it can be said of him that his interest 
in politics was for the good of the people. 

Topical Outline. — Boyhood of Samuel Adams. Opposition to the 
tax law. "Boston Massacre." ''The Tea Party." The Port Bill 
passed to punish Boston. Adams's correspondence with the other col- 
onies. First Continental Congress. War. 

For Written Work. — I. Compare Patrick Henry's boyhood with 
that of Samuel Adams. II. Imagine you were one of the "Indians" 
and describe the tea party as you shared in it. III. As a schoolboy 
tell why you pelted the soldiers with snowballs. 




-^TTTCin^^j 



Tea Party " Tablet on Long 
Wharf, Boston 



WAR BEGINS — LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 

The military supplies of Massachusetts had been collected 
in an old barn near a bridge at Concord. Knowledge of this 
had reached General Gage, and he decided to. destroy the 
supplies and, if possible, to capture Samuel Adams and John 
Hancock, who were at Lexington. Accordingly, on the night 
of the i8th of April, 1775, he sent for this purpose a force of 
troops under the command of Major Pitcairn from the British 
encampment in Boston. This action had been expected by 




Country around Boston 

the patriots, and sentinels ^ were always ready to spread the 
alarm if the soldiers in the city made any attempt to leave 
town. 

One of these sentinels, Paul Revere, watching from the 
Charlestown side of the Charles River, saw the signal lights 
1 Read " Paul Revere's Ride." 
31 



32 



THE REVOLUTION 



flash out from the tower of Old North Church. Mounting 
a swift horse, he rode through tlfe night toward Lexington, 
arousing the countryside. When he reached the village, he 
found militiamen guarding the house in which Adams and 
Hancock were asleep. They warned him not to make a 




Paul Revere at the House of Hancock and Adams 

noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, ''You'll soon have noise 
enough. The regulars are coming." 

When Pitcairn and his 800 regulars reached Lexington 
about daylight, April 19th, they were surprised to find about 
150 minutemen facing them on the green in front of the 
church. They were also surprised to learn that the two men 
they wished to capture had escaped during the night, warned 
in time by the midnight message of Paul Revere. 

Captain Parker of the minutemen, while waiting for the 
English, said to his men: "Stand your ground. Don't fire 



LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 



33 



unless fired upon. But if they mean to have war, let it begin 
here." Major Pitcairn and his red-coated soldiers marched 
up and haughtily faced the minutemen. The major shouted: 
'^ Disperse, ye villains, ye rebels, disperse! Lay down your 
arms! Why don't ye lay down your arms?" The patriots 




The Fight at Lexington 



moved not an inch. A shot was fired by some one. Pit- 
cairn swore he did not order his men to fire, but they fired 
and eight patriots were killed. In the confusion, no one 
apparently waited for orders. One hundred and fifty men 
knew they could not long hold eight hundred in check, so 
they fell back, and the English soldiers moved on toward 
Concord. 

Meanwhile minutemen " from every Middlesex village and 
farm" had been pouring into Concord and had removed all 
the supplies they could to a place of safety. Early in the 
afternoon the English appeared and, after burning the town- 
hall, pushed on to the outskirts of the village. Here at Con- 

MAK. & DEF. — 3 



34 THE REVOLUTION 

cord Bridge another skirmish was fought with the minutemen. 
Little damage had been done to the supphes, and few men had 
been killed, when the English began their retreat toward 
Boston. But, as Emerson says, the "embattled farmers" 
here had "tired a shot heard round the world." 

The return trip to Boston was a sad experience to the Brit- 
ish soldiers. The day was very hot for early spring. They 
had been up all night and had had little chance to eat any- 
thing during the day. Besides this, they were continually 
fired on by minutemen hurrying toward the Concord road 
from all directions. For ten miles the road was strewn with- 
wounded "redcoats," and it was a demoralized company of 
soldiers that was met by reenforcements later that afternoon. 

Battle of Bunker Hill 

After the battles of Lexington and Concord, the patriot 
army, made up of nearly 20,000 minutemen, gathered about 
Boston and besieged it. The patriots occupied a semicir- 
cular position, cutting off all communication between the 
English army in the city and the interior of the state. The 
Second Continental Congress, then sitting in Philadelphia, 
appointed George Washington commander of the army, and 
sent troops from other colonies to Massachusetts. 

Before Washington reached Cambridge in July, the men of 
Massachusetts had fought another battle. During May and 
the first two weeks in June, the patriot army was busy col- 
lecting supplies, drilling, making themselves familiar with 
the situation, and studying methods of defense and attack. 
It was decided to take Bunker Hill, back of Charlestown, as 
soon as possible, for this would command the city of Boston. 
By placing their cannon on this hill, they might be able to 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 



35 



drive the English out of the city. It is interesting to know 
that the English had also planned to fortify this hill, but did 
not begin to do it in time. 

On the night of June i6, 1775, a force of 600 men were put 
at work building a redoubt about eight rods square on the 




The Battle of Bunker Hill 



top of the hill. On one 
side of the hill breastworks 
were thrown up, while a 
rail fence on the other side 
was filled with sods and 
brush. The men had to 
work very quickly and quietly, for sentinels were watching 
on English ships in the harbor, but a few rods away; and in 
the silent night air the click of a shovel might betray to them 
what the patriots were doing. 

The work was nearly completed when, just at daybreak, 
Captain Linzer of an English vessel noticed a stir on the 
hill and opened fire. Other vessels then began firing and 



36 THE REVOLUTION 

continued during the forenoon, but without doing much dam- 
age. General Gage, in command of the English troops, saw 
that if the patriots should succeed in planting siege guns on 
the hill they might force him to give up the city, so he planned 
a general attack upon the patriots' position. 

It was, however, about noon before the English army, 
2500 strong, began this attack. They advanced up the hill 
in three divisions. The patriots were sheltered behind their 
defenses, and when the enemy came within range of their 
guns, they fired, cutting down a row of men in the front 
rank, including officers. The English fell back, but twice 
they were rallied and led again to the assault. Soon after 
they began their third attack, the firing from the redoubt 
ceased. The Americans' ammunition was gone. The Eng- 
lish then eagerly pressed on into the breastworks, where there 
was a hand-to-hand contest. As the patriots had no bayonets, 
they were unequal to the task, and about nightfall were 
obliged to retreat. 

The English lost many officers and a much larger number 
of men than the Americans, but the latter were obliged to 
give up their position on the hill. It is called, of course, an 
English victory, but it was one dearly bought. A few days 
later, General Gage wrote to the English government as 
follows : 

"The success, of which I send your lordships an account 
by the present opportunity, was very necessary in our present 
situation; and I wish most sincerely it had not cost so dear. 
The number of killed and wounded is greater than our force 
can afford to lose. The officers who were obliged to exert 
themselves have suffered very much; and we have lost some 
extremely good officers. The trials we have had show the 
rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have supposed 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 



37 



them to be; and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged 
among them for a few years past, joined with an uncommon 
degree of zeal and enthusiasm, that they are otherwise." 

Map Work. — Locate Boston, Lexington, Concord, Charlcstown. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Brooks, "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. ii8, 135; 
Dawes, "Colonial Massachusetts," pp. 42-72; Brooks, "Century Book 
of the American Revolution," pp. 1-68. 

Poetry. — Longfellow, "Paul Revere's Ride"; Emerson, "Concord 
Hymn"; Pierpont, "Warren's Address "; Stevenson, " Poems of Ameri- 
can History." 

Fiction. — Cooper, "Lionel Lincoln"; Butterworth, "The Patriot 
Schoolmaster"; Adams, "Watch fires of '76." 




Drum used at Bunker 
HUl 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE YOUNG VIRGINIAN 

As we have read about the beginnings of the Revolution, 
we have met the name of a man who was to play the most 
important part in our struggle for independence. It is now 
necessary to turn back in our story in order to see how this 
young Virginia planter, George Washington, was fitted for 
the great work he had to do. 

About the middle of the sixteenth century, two brothers 
emigrated from England to America. They were of the 
sturdy middle class of Old England, good stock for coloniz- 
ing a new world. These brothers purchased land in Vir- 
ginia between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, and 
one of them. Colonel John Washington, as he was known in 
his new home, became a man of influence in the community. 
His grandson, Augustine, was born in 1694 and grew to be a 
man of unusual physical power and of strong character. 
Like his father and grandfather, Augustine Washington was 
a planter, one of the large landowners of Virginia, and was 
considered wealthy for those times. He was twice married, 
and his second wife, Mary Ball, was a woman of beauty and 
of sound common sense. 

To them, at the old homestead in Westmoreland County, 
was born on February 22, 1732, a son whom they named 
George. While he was a little boy, the family moved to a 
plantation near Fredericksburg, and there most of his boyhood 
days were spent. This boy had back of him good blood and 
good breeding, and he proved worthy of them. His father, 

38 



EARLY LIFE 39 

although rich in land, had little ready money, and so was 
unable to give all of his large family the advantages of a 
thorough education. There v^ere few good schools in the 
colonies at that time, so Lawrence, the eldest son, was sent 
to England to finish his training, while George was learning 
the simple rudiments of a common school education at home. 
This school was taught by the sexton of the parish, and it was 
not long before the active boy had learned all the village 
schoolmaster could teach him. 

George was at this time a sturdy, well-built little fellow, 
with a strongly knit frame, giving promise of the muscular 
man to come. When he was about eight years old his brother 
Lawrence returned from England, and a strong affection 
sprang up between the young man just out of college and the 
little boy. 

Lawrence served for a time in the West Indies in the war 
between England and Spain, and probably was regarded by 
his small brother as a great military hero. So George, at 
home, organized among the schoolboys companies of sol- 
diers and played at war. Without doubt, he formed some- 
thing of a taste for adventure at this early age. He even at 
one time wished to become a sailor and had obtained a 
midshipman's berth through his brother Lawrence's influence, 
but gave it up to please his mother. 

In 1743, Augustine Washington died, and his large landed 
property was divided among his children. To Lawrence was 
given the estate on the Potomac, which he afterward named 
Mount Vernon in honor of the Admiral Vernon, under whom 
he had served in the Spanish wars. The old homestead 
in Westmoreland County was given to Augustine, another 
brother, while George, when he became of age, was to have 
the lands on the Rappahannock. 



40 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

In order that George might have better school advantages 
he was now sent to live with his brother Augustine. Here 
he attended an academy kept by the Rev. James Mayre, a 
French emigrant, who gave him a practical business educa- 
tion. He was good in mathematics, especially in geometry 
and in surveying. His fondness for these studies, together 
with his love of an outdoor life, had much to do with his 
choice of a profession; for he soon began to fit himself to 
become a surveyor. 

George was a serious-minded boy, somewhat shy and 
diffident, and large for his age. His schoolmates looked upon 
him with affection and with so much respect that their boyish 
disputes were usually referred to him for settlement. Many of 
his schoolbooks and exercises have been preserved, and they 
show that he was already forming those careful and methodi- 
cal habits that were so marked in his later life. A copy 
book which he made about 1745 is most interesting. In it 
were copied, in a neat and painstaking hand, bonds, receipts, 
and other business forms. When he was tired, he would 
stop, like most boys, and draw in the margin pictures of birds 
or of his schoolmates. 

But the best parts of this copy book are the " Rules of 
Civility." The master thought that his boys should be 
taught good manners and good conduct as well as arith- 
metic, so George copied and studied these rules faithfully. 
Without doubt, they had a great influence in forming his 
habits and character. 

It would be well if the boys and girls of to-day could study 
these quaint rules of conduct as faithfully as did Washington. 
Here are some of them: 

" Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters 
§omewhat grave, 



EARLY LIFE 



41 



"Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, 
though he were your enemy. 

" Talk not with meat in your mouth. 

" Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust. 

"Labour to keep alive in your breast that little Spark of 
Celestial fire called Conscience." 

But we must not think that the thoughtful, studious boy 
was wholly devoted to his books. He was also unusually 
fond of the free out-of-door life so commonly followed in 
colonial Virginia. In the fields and in the forests he learned 
much that is not taught in books, and his courage, his self- 
reliance, and his rugged strength came largely from contact 
with nature. He learned to shoot straight, to ride well, and 
to hold his own in swimming, in wrestling, in pitching quoits, 
and in other boyish sports. 

A story is told of him that shows his skill as a rider and his 
strong sense of honor. 
Sorrel, the finest colt 
on his mother's farm, 
was high-spirited and 
difficult to manage. 
One morning when 
the boys were in the 

pasture, George tried '^^^ ^"^^SW 'Kl^JKBIt^KsS 
to ride this colt. He 
had nearly succeeded 
in mastering the ani- 
mal, when Sorrel, 

1 . J 1 • Washington tries to ride the Colt 

leapmg and plungmg 

around the lot in an effort to unseat the boy, burst a blood 
vessel and soon died. The boys were of course afraid to tell 
Mrs. Washington what had happened. When they came in 




42 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

to breakfast, she asked how they found the horses, and George 
honestly told the story of the accident. For a moment she 
was angry, for she was fond of the splendid animal, but she 
soon said that she was proud of her boy for telling the truth 
at once and not trying to shield himself. 

In 1747, George's school days ended and he went to live 
with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon. Here he soon 
put to practical use his knowledge of surveying, and busied 
himself in running lines and in measuring his brother's 
estate. Here, too, he had an opportunity to test those rules 
of conduct by which he was shaping his character. 

On an estate adjoining Mount Vernon, lived Lord Fair- 
fax, a courtly, white-haired English gentlemen who owned 
immense tracts of land in Virginia. This nobleman soon 
noticed the modest, well-bred boy, and a strong friendship 
sprang up between them. Washington was a welcome vis- 
itor at Belvoir, Lord Fairfax's home. They rode together, 
they went fox hunting together, and the boy must have 
absorbed from the man of the world something of the culture 
and of the sound, mellow civilization of which the fine old 
English gentleman was so good a type. 

It was Lord Fairfax who gave Washington his first employ- 
ment as a surveyor. He saw that the boy who showed such 
energy and accuracy in surveying his brother's lands, was 
worthy of a larger trial. Fairfax had a great tract of land in 
the Shenandoah valley extending over the Blue Ridge into 
what is now West Virginia. This property, in 1748, he sent 
Washington to survey. It was a task which would test the 
mettle of most men, but the sixteen-year-old boy proved 
equal to the trust. In company with George Fairfax and a 
few assistants, he started for the Shenandoah. Their life in 
the wilderness for the next few weeks was crowded with hard 



SURVEYOR 



43 



work and with adventure. They usually slept in the open 
air or in tents, and for food they depended largely on hunting. 

At one time, they fell in with a party of Indians, and at 
night, around the camp fire, they watched the weird dances 
of the red men. For food, they had the trout which they 
caught in the mountain brooks and the game with which 
the forest abounded. What a charm this woods life had for 
them, only boys who have tasted the joys of camping out can 
fully realize. Washington, in after years, referred to these 
experiences as the happiest moments in his life. When the 
little expedition returned to civilization, Lord Fairfax was 
so well pleased with the skillful manner in which Washing- 
ton had done his work that he obtained for him an appoint- 
ment as public surveyor of Culpeper County. 

The next three years were passed in the practice of his 
profession. His home was now at Mount Vernon, but much 




'.^.v/^ 



Greenway Court 



44 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

of his time was spent with his friend Lord Fairfax at Green- 
way Court. This was a wilderness home which the noble- 
man, charmed with the beauty of the country which Wash- 
ington surveyed, had built in the Shenandoah valley, near 
where Winchester now stands. 

During this time, Lawrence Washington's health failed, and 
with the hope that a sea voyage would prove beneficial, he 
took George, his favorite brother, on a trip to the West Indies. 
The voyage, however, proved of no avail, and in 1752 Law- 
rence died, leaving his daughter in charge of George as her 
guardian. She lived only a short time after, and George, by 
a provision of his brother's will, became the owner of the great 
plantation at Mount Vernon. 

He might now have settled down to a life of ease, but the 
country was on the verge of a great war in which he was 
destined to be a conspicuous figure. 

For over a century the settlements of the English in 
America had been confined to a narrow strip along the 
Atlantic seaboard, extending back less than two hundred 
miles. The French in Canada had occupied the St. Law- 
rence valley, and their priests and traders had boldly explored 
the western country. There they had established forts and 
trading posts along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi 
River. 

Both peoples were attracted by the reports of the fertil- 
ity and beauty of the Ohio valley. Virginia laid claim to 
this country under the provisions of its royal charter, and 
a company of Virginia gentlemen, under the name of the 
Ohio Company, was formed to make settlements in this 
valley. But the French, also realizing its value, were pre- 
paring to take and hold possession by the establishment of a 
chain of forts extending from Lake Erie to the Mississippi 



MISSION TO OHIO VALLEY 



45 



River. Three of these forts were already built: one at 
Presque Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania, another called Fort 

Le Boeuf, where Waterford, 

Pennsylvania, is now situ- 
ated; and an outpost at 
Venango, now the site of 
Franklin, Pennsylvania. It 
was seen at once by the Vir- 
ginians that decisive steps 
must be taken to enforce 
their claim to the Ohio val- 
ley. Some one must be sent 
there to find out what the 
plans of the French were, 
and to win the friendship 
of the Indians. The man 
chosen must be fearless, 
tactful, and an expert 
woodsman. So it is not 
strange that Washington, 
then only twenty-one years 
of age, was chosen for this 
difficult and dangerous un- 
dertaking. 




SCALE OF MILES 



Early Forts in the Ohio Valley 



In October of 1753, armed with a letter from Governor 
Dinwiddie of Virginia to the French commander at Fort Le 
Boeuf, he started on his mission. With him were his old 
fencing master, Jacob Van Braam, and Christopher Gist, a 
famous frontier guide. They had also four Indian traders 
and servants. The journey of 500 miles over the mountains 
and through the trackless forests was attended with many 
dangers, but at last the little company reached the French 



46 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



fort. The officers received them cordially, but frankly said 
to Washington that they could not abandon the country 
which the Virginians claimed. 

After a few days' rest, Washington and his companions 
started on their return journey. Winter had already set 
in, and the rivers were swollen with ice. In his eagerness to 

reach home, Wash- 
ington left the others 
to follow more slow- 
ly, and, with Gist, 
pushed on ahead. In 
the diary which he 
kept, he tells of the 
difficulties they met. 
One day an Indian, 
who seemed to be 
friendly, suddenly 
shot at the two 
men, but fortunately 
missed, so they dis- 
armed him and let 
him go. Coming to 
one river which they 
could not ford, Wash- 
ington says, "There 
was no way of getting over but on a Raft which we set about 
with but one poor hatchet and finished just after Sunsetting. 
Before we were half way over we were jammed in the Ice. 
The Rapidity of the Stream jerked me out into ten feet of 
Water but I saved myself by catching hold of one of the logs." 
The current was so strong that they could not bring the raft to 
shore but were obliged to abandon it and swim to an island. 




Washington thrown from the Raft 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



47 



Here they stayed all night, suffering greatly from the intense 
cold. The next morning the river had frozen over so that 
they walked to the other shore. After many days of hard- 
ship and danger and treachery, they came safely home to 
Virginia, and on the i6th of January, 1754, Washington 
reported the result of his mission to Governor Dinwiddie. 

Immediately Vir- 
ginia prepared for 
war. Troops were 
mustered, and a 
company of men was 
sent forward to build 
a fort at the point 
where the Mononga- 
hela and Allegheny 
Rivers meet and form 
the Ohio. Washing- 
ton followed soon 
after with two com- 
panies, and in a skir- 
mish near a place 
known as Great 
Meadows, surprised 
and defeated a small 
force of French. 

Leaving a few men Washington as a Young Man 

at Great Meadows, he then pushed forward to a settlement 
which had been made by his old guide Christopher Gist, cut- 
ting a wagon road through the woods as he went. But the 
French, in the meantime, had driven off the English at the 
headwaters of the Ohio and had built there a fort which 
they named Fort Duquesne. Washington, hearing that the 




48 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

French were advancing from this fort, fellback to Great 
Meadows, and hastily threw upT a rough stockade which he 
called Fort Necessity. Here he was attacked by a force 
greatly outnumbering his own, and, after a brave fight lasting 
nine hours, was forced to surrender. With all the honors 
of war, the Virginia troops were allowed to march out of the 
fort and to return to their homes. Washington, in writing to 
his brother about one of these skirmishes, said, "I heard the 
bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charming 
in the sound." The English king, George II, upon hearing 
this remark, laughed and said that Washington would not 
have said so if he had been used to hearing many. 

The war, known in history as the French and Indian War, 
which was to decide whether the French or the English were 
to have America, now began in bitter earnest. The English 
government was roused to action and sent over regiments of 
regular troops to assist the colonies. There were fi\'e strong- 
holds of the French in America which the English wished to 
take. One of these was Fort Duquesne, and against it, in 
the early summer of 1755, marched General Braddock in 
command of 2000 colonial troops and regulars. 

Braddock was a gallant soldier, but his training had been 
on European battlefields, and he had contempt for the colo- 
nial militia. Colonel Washington, who was a member of his 
staff of officers, warned him that warfare in the forests and 
against the French and their Indian allies was very different 
from what he had experienced, but he stubbornly refused to 
listen to the young man. The little army had nearly reached 
Fort Duquesne and was marching with banners gayly flying 
and with fife and drum playing, when the French and Indians 
suddenly fell upon them. The colonial troops, used to this 
kind of warfare, immediately sprang behind trees, but the 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



49 



regulars, drawn up in battle line, fired helplessly at an 
unseen foe. Rraddock, storming up and down the line, 
tried to rally his disordered troops, but failed and was mor- 
tally wounded. Washington seemed to bear a charmed life; 
two horses were shot under him and four bullets tore through 
his coat, but he escaped unharmed and, with his militia, 
covered the retreat of the army. 

After this disastrous defeat, Washington was placed in 





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Fort Duquesne 

command of the Virginia troops, and in 1758 took part in 
another expedition against Fort Duquesne. This time the 
fortunes of war were with the English, for the tide had turned 
against the French in all parts of the country. Before the 
English reached Duquesne, the French abandoned and burned 
the defenses. On its ruins the English rebuilt the fort and 
named it Pitt in honor of the great Prime Minister of Eng- 
land. At that place is now the great manufacturing and 
commercial city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

As the war was now practically over, Washington returned 

MAK. & DEF.— 4 



50 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

to Mount Vernon and resumed the life of a Virginia planter 
and gentleman. In the summer of 1758 he had met and won 
Martha Custis, a beautiful and wealthy young widow, and 
on January 6, 1759, they were married. Their spacious 
home on the Potomac, under the direction of its charming 
mistress, soon became a center in the social life of the neigh- 
borhood.' For the next few^ years its generous hospitality and 
its quiet comfort made it famous. Here Washington lived 
until his country's need called him again into public service. 

Topical Outline. — George Washington: boyhood and youth. Life at 
Mount Vernon; friends and occupations. The French in the Ohio val- 
ley. Washington's journey to the French forts. His share in the French 
and Indian War. His marriage. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph on each of the following 
topics: George Washington's school days, his friendship with Lord 
Fairfax, his games and sports. H. Imagine yourself a companion of 
Washington on the trip to the French forts. Tell the story of your ad- 
ventures 'on the journey. HI. Write from memory some of Washing- 
ton's rules of conduct. IV. What were the causes of the French and 
Indian War. Tell why the possession of Fort Duquesne was important. 

Map Work. — Locate Fredericksburg, Mount Vernon (p. 60), Alle- 
gheny and Monongahela Rivers, Presque Isle, Fort Le Bceuf, Venango, 
Fort Duquesne, Fort Necessity. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON — SOLDIER AND 
STATESMAN 




Mount Vernon 

In colonial Virginia there were no large cities. Its great 
rivers had no falls to develop water power for the mills 
around which villages might cluster. Its lands were fertile, 
and the colonists were, for the most part, busied with the 
raising of grain and tobacco. So great estates grew up along 
the shores of broad tidal rivers like the James, the York, and 
the Potomac. Each of these estates had its owner's mansion, 
built of wood or brick, with broad halls and wide verandas, 
its quarters for the servants and slaves, its workshops and 
its barns, so that each plantation was a little village in itself. 

SI 



52 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



To one of these fine old Virginia homes, in 1759, Wash- 
ington brought his young bride. Most of us have seen 
pictures of Mount Vernon, but they cannot do justice to the 
beauty of its location. Situated on the summit of a small 
hill, with its green lawns gently sloping to the river, it com- 
manded a fine view of the Potomac. Stretching away on 
either side were the broad acres and the forests of the estate, 
a scene of contentment and of comfort to gladden the heart 
of the young man fresh from the hardships of Indian wars. 

Washington loved 
his home and its 
quiet country life, 
and here he now had 
his first chance for 
rest and retirement 
since his early boy- 
hood days. The es- 
tate and the consider- 
able property which 
his wife had brought 
him, required careful 
supervision. Rising 
early, he would visit 
his farms on horse- 
back, directing his 
overseers where fields 
were to be plowed or 
cultivated, and where 
forests were to be 
cleared. Often, in 
the afternoon, he would join his neighbors in fox hunting 
or in shooting canvasback ducks on the Potomac, and the 




Martha Washington 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 53 

sport would frequently end with a hunt supper at one of the 
homes. 

He was one of the wealthy men of the colony, and his 
intimate friends were among its leaders. These he would 
entertain with gracious hospitality at Mount Vernon, and he 
would return their visits by trips to their estates. We can see 
him now as he starts out with his wife for these visits of 
state — Mrs. Washington in her coach and four, with the 
driver and servants in livery, while her husband rode on 
horseback at the side of the coach. 

So the quiet years passed, broken only by an occasional visit 
to the colonial capital, to perform his duties as a member of the 
House of Burgesses. These years were years of growth of 
character and of strict attention to his business. He became 
the most successful planter in the colony. He kept his own 
account books and personally directed the planting and the 
harvesting of his crops. It is said that the quality of the 
tobacco and flour which was shipped abroad bearing the 
brand "George Washington, Mount Vernon" was so well 
known that the customs inspectors passed it without exami- 
nation. Although he held slaves, he treated them kindly and 
never sold them. 

During the years when Washington was quietly living at 
Mount Vernon, the troubles between England and her Ameri- 
can colonies were rapidly reaching a crisis. What these un- 
just demands and exactions of the mother country were, you 
have already learned in your study of the lives of Samuel 
Adams and of Patrick Henry. A congress of the colonies 
was held in Philadelphia in 1774, and Washington was sent 
to it as a delegate from Virginia. Patrick Henry, who was 
also a member of the congress, when asked who was the 
greatest man there, said: "If you speak of eloquence, Mr. 



54 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Rutledge is by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of 
solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington 
is undoubtedly the greatest man on that floor." 

When the Second Continental Congress met, May lo, 1775, 
also in Philadelphia, the time for a peaceful settlement of the 
issues between England and the colonies had passed. The 
battle of Lexington had been fought and American blood 
shed. Washington was again a delegate from Virginia to 
this Congress, and was at once chosen commander in chief of 
all the Continental forces. Perhaps he was the only man on 
whom Congress could unanimously agree, for, since the 
French and Indian War, he was undoubtedly the greatest 
military leader in America. Notwithstanding his fitness for 
the place, he modestly questioned his own worth. In his 
reply to the appointment, Washington said: "Though I am 
truly sensitive of the high honor done me in this appointment, 
yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities 
may not be equal to the trust." As a condition of acceptance, 
he refused to receive any pay for his services except for his 
personal expenses, of which he kept an exact account and 
for which he was afterwards repaid. This, it may be noted, 
was all he asked in after years • when he became Presi- 
dent. 

The little army which General Washington was to com- 
mand was stationed around Boston, so he at once set out 
from Philadelphia for that city. While he was on the journey, 
news was brought of the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington, 
upon hearing the story of that gallant fight, and learning that 
the militia had repulsed the attacks of the British regulars, 
until their powder and shot were gone, exclaimed: "Thank 
God, the liberties of the country are safe." On July 2, 1775, he 
reached Cambridge, just outside of Boston, and took com- 



THE REVOLUTION 



55 



mand of the colonial troops. The elm tree under which he 
reviewed the army on the next day is still stan(Hng, and is 
called the Washington Elm. He established his headquar- 
ters in the Craigie homestead, a fme old colonial mansion 
afterwards occupied by the poet Longfellow. 

It was a poorly equipped body of men that Washington 




Washington takes Command of the Continental Army 

had to command. Most of them were without uniforms, and 
many had no guns. They were unused to discipline, and 
were enlisted for short terms. Supplies were low, and there 
was constant danger of attack from the British, who were 
encamped across the ri\er in the city of Boston. His first 
task was to make a disciplined army out of these raw recruits. 
So the summer and fall were spent in drilling the men and 
in gathering supplies. 



56 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

The material most needed was powder and cannon. For- 
tunately Ethan Allen and his band of "Green Mountain 
boys," had, in the early summer, by a bold stroke, captured 
the English forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. These 
forts were well stored with arms and ammunition, and at the 
beginning of winter their cannon and other needed supphes 
were drawn on ox sleds to Washington's camp. 

With his men armed, equipped, and trained, Washington 
was now ready to begin active warfare. Planting his cannon 
behind breastworks on the heights about Boston, he soon made 
the British position in that city difficult to hold, and on 
March 17, 1776, the enemy were forced to abandon the city. 
In their haste, the English left behind much valuable material 
of war with which Washington was better able to equip his 
army. The British troops sailed away to Halifax, but King 
George III and his advisers were already planning to attack 
New York. Suspecting this, Washington withdrew his troops 
to that city to prepare for its defense. 

Meanwhile the breach between England and America 
rapidly widened. Petitions to the king and protests to 
Parliament having failed, all hope of reconciliation seemed 
to vanish. So the Continental Congress took a decisive step, 
and in June, 1776, appointed a committee to draft a state- 
ment of the colonists' wrongs and a declaration of their 
liberties. This committee, of which Thomas Jefferson was 
chairman, reported to Congress, and on July 4, 1776, the 
delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence. 

THE CAMPAIGN IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 

At the very time when the Congress was proclaiming the 
colonies to be a free and independent nation, the English 



CAMPAIGN IN NEW YORK 



57 



-Route of American Army 
- " " British Army 



forces under General Howe were gathering on Staten Island 
ready to attack New York. 

Washington had less than 18,000 men with which to pro- 
tect the city. If you 
will look at a map of 
the city and the coun- 
try surrounding it, you 
will see that the Eng- 
lish from their location 
on Staten Island could 
strike a decisive blow 
at any one spot of the 
American line of de- 
fenses before Wash- 
ington could mass 
enough troops to 
strengthen it. 

Long Island was de- 
fended by three forts 
on the "Heights," 
nearest Manhattan, 
and by the "Line of 
Defense" from the 
Wallabout to Gowan- 




Vicinity of New York 



US. This line was a mile and a quarter long, and in it was 
the star-shaped fort located where the Martyrs' Monument 
now is in Fort Greene Park. Part of the Patriot forces held 
these defenses, while Washington and the main army re- 
mained on Manhattan. But Howe did not, as was expected, 
attack New York directly. Instead, with considerable de- 
liberation, he began on August 22 to land troops on Long 
Island near Bath Beach. When word reached the Ameri- 



58 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

cans to this effect, reenforcements were brought over from 
Manhattan, and men were sent out beyond the defenses to 
guard the three great highways crossing the ridge. The 
Flatbush Pass was the only one defended by fieldworks; at 
East New York, about where Jamaica Avenue now passes 
the entrance to Evergreen Cemetery, only five young men 
were stationed. 

As the British landed, they spread rapidly over the plains 
from New Utrecht and Gravesend to Flatbush.^ On Au- 
gust 27 simultaneous attacks were ordered by the British on 
the Americans at Flatbush Pass and on the Coast Road to 
the west, while other troops were sent around to East New 
York, and after capturing the outpost stationed on the Ja- 
maica Road, came around on the American rear. There is a 
bit of humor in the fact that Cornwallis, Clinton, Percy, and 
several other less famous officers with at least eight hun- 
dred men, captured those five boys stationed at the Jamaica 
Pass. 

Some of the most terrible fighting of the war was on the 
field stretching from Battle Pass, now in Greenwood Ceme- 
tery, to Battle Hill, now in Prospect Park. Both places are 
appropriately marked, but at Battle Hill is a fine monument 
to the memory of the Maryland troops that fell there on 
August 28. The next day was hot and rainy, and neither 
side attempted to renew the battle. The capture of the 
entire Long Island division of the American army now seemed 
certain, but General Howe had a habit of putting off things, 
and failed to follow uj) the victory he had won. While he 
waited, Washington seized all the boats on the Brooklyn 
side of the East Ri\'er, and on the night of the 29th, aided 
by a dense fog which concealed the movements of the army, 
he safely carried across to Manhattan nearly 10,000 men. By 



CAMPAIGN IN NEW YORK 



59 



this masterly retreat, Washington saved his army. Although 
he had been forty-eight hours with scarcely time for food or for 
rest, he directed that retreat in person, and when in the gray 




Retreating from Brooklyn 

dawn he embarked with the last boat load of soldiers, he must 
have breathed a sigh of relief at so shrewdly outwitting the 
British. 

Two weeks later, on September 15, the British crossed the 
East River and landed at Kip's Bay, at what is now the foot of 
East Thirty-sixth Street, with little opposition. They moved 
north and attacked Washington's position at Harlem Heights. 
Although the Patriots pushed the British line back, they knew 
that they could not long hold their position, for the British 
])oats could enter the Harlem River and land troops in their 
rear. So it was decided to cross over into Westchester County. 
For the next two months Washington slowly retreated north- 




Longitude 



CAMPAIGN IN NEW JERSEY 6 1 

ward, never risking a general engagement because of the 
superior strength of the enemy, but forcing them to fight for 
every foot of ground they took. At White Plains, the two 
armies again met. Soon after, with part of his army, Wash- 
ington crossed the Hudson River and retired into New 
Jersey. 

The Patriots had fortified two positions on either side of 
the Hudson above the city of New York, in order to pre- 
vent the English fleet from passing up the river. Fort 
Washington on the eastern bank was captured by General 
Howe, and the Patriots were forced soon after to abandon 
Fort Lee on the western shore. Then followed Washington's 
memorable retreat across New Jersey. 

The English, under the command of Lord Cornwallis, 
pressed so closely upon the Americans that at • times the 
armies were in sight of each other. Washington, however, 
by burning bridges and by blocking the roads, managed to 
keep out of reach of the pursuing enemy. At last, reaching 
the Delaware River and collecting all the boats in the vicinity, 
he crossed over into Pennsylvania. A few^ hours later, the 
British came marching down to the river, but, having no 
boats, were forced to encamp and wait until the river had 
frozen. Cornwallis was so certain that he now had Wash- 
ington at his mercy that, leaving his army in camp, he 
returned to New York for the Christmas holidays. 

The affairs of the Americans were at a low ebb. During 
the retreat across New Jersey, Washington had lost thousands 
of men by desertion and by the ending of their terms of enlist- 
ment. Seemingly, the whole country was discouraged, but 
its great-hearted leader never gave up hope. He knew that 
if he could strike a successful blow ^t the British, faith in him 
and in his army would be restored. The opportunity soon 



62 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



came, for the English, careless and confident of victory, were 
loosely guarding their lines. 

At Trenton a detachment of Hessians were stationed. 
These Hessians were German soldiers whom King George 
had hired to fight for him, and they were especially hated by 
the Americans. So Washington determined if possible to 
capture them. Plans for the attack were carefully made, and 




Washington crossing the Delaware 

on Christmas night, with a body of picked men, he crossed 
the Delaware. 

The river was full of floating ice, the current was strong, 
and the weather was bitterly cold, but the brave general was 
fortunate in having, in the force he had selected, a regiment 
of New England fishermen used to handling boats, so the 
crossing was safely made. As the men started on their march 
toward Trenton, nine miles away, the storm increased in 
fury. Sleet and snow were driven in the faces of the weary 



CAMPAIGN IN NEW JERSEY 63 

soldiers as they advanced, and two men were frozen to death 
by the bitter cold. It was after daybreak when they reached 
the enemy's camp, but the surprise was complete, and Wash- 
ington captured a thousand Hessians. 

This victory, and Washington's further operations in New 
Jersey, aroused Cornwallis to action. He again took the 
field, determined, as he said, "to finish the business up." 
Leaving three regiments at Princeton, with the rest of his 
army he drove Washington back to the Delaware. "At 
last we have the old Fox bagged," said the British general, 
but Washington was not to be so easily caught. During the 
night, leaving his camp fires brightly burning and sentinels 
on guard to deceive the enemy, Washington slipped around 
the British lines, and by sunrise fell upon and defeated the 
troops stationed at Princeton. This second victory, follow- 
ing so closely upon the one at Trenton, greatly encouraged 
the Americans. Active campaigning now ceased, and Wash- 
ington went into winter quarters on the heights above Morris- 
town, where his position was so strongly fortified as to be 
secure from attack. 

Of this campaign, a great German general has said that 
no finer military movement was ever executed than the re- 
treat through New Jersey and the return across the Dela- 
ware with its victories at Trenton and at Princeton. 

We must not close our story of this part of the war, however, 
without mentioning the name of Robert Morris, a patriot 
banker of Philadelphia. He pledged his own fortune and 
induced his Quaker friends to give money for the support of 
the army. The timely receipt of these funds made it pos- 
sible for Washington to reenlist the soldiers whose terms of 
service were about to expire. Without these soldiers victory 
would have been impossible. 



64 ' GEORGE WASHINGTON 

THE CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA 

The English king and his advisers now saw that their war 
with the despised colonists was more serious than they had at 
first expected. Plans were made in London early in 1777 
for a threefold movement of the British troops. The colony 
of New York was to be the center of attack. The king 
thought that by getting possession of the Hudson valley he • 
could separate the rebellious New Englanders from the rest 
of the colonies. In this way, by dividing the American 
strength, he could more readily crush the rebellion. Accord- 
ingly General Burgoyne was to come south along the Cham- 
plain route from Canada; St. Leger, from Oswego, was to 
advance eastward through the Mohawk valley, and join 
Burgoyne at Albany; while Howe was to send reenforcements 
up the Hudson to meet the united armies. It was a beautiful 
scheme on paper; how poorly Burgoyne's and St. Leger's 
parts in it worked out, we shall read in another chapter. Here 
we are interested in knowing about Washington's share in 
checkmating the British game. 

Washington saw that it was absolutely necessary to keep 
Howe so busy that no troops could be sent north. In order 
to do this, he pretended to strike at New York, then in the 
hands of the English. Howe retaliated by beginning opera- 
tions against Philadelphia. He at first tried to march his 
army across New Jersey, but Washington blocked the way 
so effectually that he returned to New York. Leaving a 
garrison to guard that city, Howe with his fleet and 18,000 men 
then set sail for Chesapeake Bay. The Continental army 
at once marched southward to check the British advance. 

It was while they were passing through Philadelphia, that 
Washington first met the Marquis de Lafayette. This 



CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA 65 

young French nobleman was an ardent lover of liberty, who 
had fitted out a vessel at his own expense and had sailed to 
America to offer his services. His life and his fortune he 
freely risked to aid the colonists. Congress made him a 
major general, and Washington, when he came to know 
Lafayette's fine nature, loved and trusted him as a son. 

It was late in August when Howe landed his troops at the 
head of Chesapeake Bay. Between him and Philadelphia 
lay Washington with 11,000 men ready to contest every 
foot of the way. On the nth of September, the two armies 
met at Chads Ford on Brandywine Creek, and Washington 
was driven back. He fought and marched so skillfully, how- 
ever, that it took Howe two weeks to advance the remaining 
twenty-six miles and capture Philadelphia. Another battle 
in October, at Germantown, a suburb of the city, nearly 
resulted in a victory for the Americans. But a dense fog 
concealed the movements of the troops, and in the confusion 
the Americans fired on one another and the day was lost. 

It was now too late for Howe to send aid to Burgoyne, so he 
established his army in Philadelphia, while Washington went 
into winter quarters at Valley Forge, heavy wooded heights 
on the Schuylkill River twenty miles away. Meanwhile, in 
the north, St. Leger had been driven back at Oriskany, and 
Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga. These American 
victories more than compensated for the loss of Philadelphia, 
for they won for the colonies the friendship and support of 
France. Washington's campaigns during the summer and 
fall of 1777 had, in a great measure, made the victory at 
Saratoga possible, for by keeping Howe busy he had pre- 
vented the union of the British armies. If Howe had sent 
strong reenforcements up the Hudson, it is hardly probable 
that the British campaign in the north would have failed. 



66 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



While the British were comfortably occupying Philadelphia 
during the winter of 1777-177*8, Washington's ragged troops 
were bravely enduring fearful hardships in their winter camp 
at Valley Forge. They lived in log huts which were fairly 
warm, but they were ill-clothed and poorly fed. Thousands 
of them were without shoes, and when they gathered fire- 
wood or served on sentry duty, the soldiers' tracks in the snow 




A Scene in Camp at Valley Forge 

were sometimes covered with blood. Although Washington's 
great heart ached for the sufferings of his men in this dreadful jj 
winter, he never lost faith. A Prussian officer, Baron Steu- 
ben, ^ who had learned the art of war from Frederick the 



1 After the Revolutionary War was over, Baron Steuben was given, as a 
reward for his services, a large tract of land in central New York, north of 
the Mohawk River at Utica. He is buried near the village of Remsen in 
Oneida County. 



LATER CAMPAIGNS ' 67 

Great, now joined the Americans. His services to the army 
were great, for he was a master of military tactics. He 
taught the soldiers that their bayonets were good for some- 
thing more than to toast meat over the fires, and he thor- 
oughly drilled and disciplined the men. 

LATER CAMPAIGNS 

At last the long winter came to an end and Washington 
was again ready to take the field. General Howe had been 
recalled to England, and General Henry Clinton sent over to 
take command of the British forces. He withdrew his troops 
from Philadelphia and started for New York. Washington 
followed, and a battle was fought on the 28th of June at 
Monmouth, New Jersey. The Americans might have won 
a victory here if it had not been for the treachery of General 
Charles Lee. 

Lee was an English soldier of fortune who had joined the 
Continental army at the beginning of the war. He had been 
rapidly advanced until he was second in command in the 
patriot army. He thought he ought to be first, and he had 
more than once disregarded or disobeyed Washington's orders. 
Finally he began to treat secretly with the enemy. At Mon- 
mouth he was in command of the leading division of the 
American army, and ordered a retreat before the battle had 
fairly commenced. Washington, riding up in a white-hot 
temper, dismissed Lee from the command and rallied his 
disordered troops. But the harm had already been done, 
and the British safely escaped to New York. 

There was among the Americans another traitor whose 
black deed of dishonor is the darkest spot in the history of the 
Revolution. His name was Benedict Arnold, and he had a 
record of honorable service in the earlier part of the war. 

MAK. & DEF. — 5 



6S 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



Having been wounded in battle, he was given command of 
Philadelphia after Clinton left that city. Here he incurred 
heavy debts, and was by order of Congress publicly re- 
buked. But Washington still trusted him implicitly and 

placed him in com- 
mand of West Point, 
a strongly fortified 
position on the Hud- 
son. This fortress he 
secretly planned to 
surrender to the Brit- 
ish, but the plot was 
discovered through 
the capture of Andre, 
a British ofiicer who 
came within the 
American lines to ar- 
range the plan for 
carrying out the sur- 
render of the fort. 
Arnold escaped and 
joined the enemy. 
Washington was 
deeply hurt at Ar- 
nold's treason. He 
hardly knew whom to trust, when the man he loved had 
failed him so utterly. 

There were no more great campaigns in the North, for the 
British now made their chief attacks on the Southern colonies. 
In the Carolinas, a few scattered patriot bands under the able 
leadership of Morgan and Marion, "the Swamp Fox," had 
carried on a kind of border warfare. Gates was sent there to 




Arnold and Andre 



YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN 69 

lead the American forces, but he failed to accomplish any- 
thing. So Nathanael Greene, next to Washington the greatest 
general in the Continental army, was placed in command. He 
succeeded in inflicting great losses on Cornwall is's army, so 
that Cornwallis decided to abandon the Carolinas and to 
march northward into Virginia. There, after failing to bring 
on a battle with Lafayette, he fortified himself at Yorktown, 
in August, 1 781. 

Washington saw that the time had come to make a supreme 
effort to end the war. A powerful fleet under the command of 
Count de Grasse, sent from France to aid us, was on its way 
to the Chesapeake. Lafayette with a small army of Amer- 
icans was facing Cornwallis in Virginia. Washington with 
his main force was encamped on the Hudson. He deter- 
mined to move his army secretly and rapidly from New York 
to Virginia, a distance of 400 miles, and crush the British 
at Yorktown. 

In anticipation of such a campaign, a French army sta- 
tioned in Rhode Island joined Washington's forces on the 
Hudson, in July, 1781. The British general in New York 
supposed these troops were being gathered to attack his posi- 
tion in that city. In order to strengthen this impression, Wash- 
ington left West Point well garrisoned, while he moved his 
main army into New Jersey as if intending to attack Staten 
Island as the first step in a campaign directed against New 
York. Only the French general knew the real purpose in 
Washington's mind. So secretly and so rapidly did the army 
move that its French and American soldiers did not realize 
until they had actually reached Philadelphia that the object 
of this general movement of troops was to unite with the land 
forces under Lafayette and the naval forces under De Grasse 
in an effort to crush Cornwallis. This brilliant scheme 



70 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



worked famously. The troops had marched halfway across 
New Jersey before the British in New York realized they had 
gone. By this skillful union of his forces, Washington securely 
hemmed in Cornwallis both by sea and by land. The British 
general made several gallant efforts to break through the 
surrounding lines, but soon found that he must surrender to 
superior forces. So on the 19th of October, 1781, the Brit- 
ish army marched out of its fortifications to the humiliating 
notes of a quaint old English tune, "The World Turned Up- 
side Down," and laid down its arms. This was the crown- 
ing event in the career of Washington as a great military 
leader. 

This victory practically ended the war, although peace 
was not declared until 1783. No one rejoiced more at its 
close than did Washington. He had grown gray in his 
country's service. He had become the first soldier of his 




Washington taking Leave of his Officers and Friends 



PRESIDENT 71 

time, and now he longed for the peace and comfort of Mount 
Vernon. On the 4th of December, 1783, at Fraunce's tavern 
in New York city, he met his generals and dearest friends to 
bid them farewell. After taking an affectionate leave of 
his comrades he returned to the home from which he had 
been separated for so many years. Here with his flocks and 
herds, among the familiar scenes he loved so well, he hoped 
to pass the rest of his days. 

PRESIDENT WASHINGTON 

Washington was not permitted to live in retirement for 
many years on his Virginia estate. The times that tried men's 
souls were not yet passed. The wisest statesmen in the coun- 
try saw that if the liberty that had been won at such a cost 
was to be kept, a stronger form of government must be made. 
So a convention in Philadelphia in 1787 drafted the Consti- 
tution under which we are now a united nation. As a result 
of the new form of government, Washington was elected the 
first President of the United States. He brought to the duties 
of this high office the same sound judgment, the same grasp 
of detail, and the same huge energy that had marked his 
career as a general in the war of the Revolution. 

For eight years he served his country faithfully and without 
pay. Declining election for a third term, he again sought 
retirement at Mount Vernon. Here he occupied himself 
with the cares of his estate; with the planting, the harvesting, 
and the other duties of a prosperous farmer. 

Occasionally his friends would visit him, and public men 
would come from all parts of the country to pay their respects 
to the great soldier and statesman. His strict attention to 
business and the importance he attached to small things are 
shown by the fact that after his death there were found in his 



72 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

diary complete plans for a succession of crops on his farms 
for the next four years. But Washington was not long spared 
as an example of industry and of dignity in private as well as 
in public life. On December 12, 1799, after a hard day in 
the saddle riding about his farms in a rain storm, he returned 
home. That night he was taken with a severe chill, and two 
days later died. 

The news of his death was received with the deepest sor- 
row by the whole world, for he was everywhere recognized 
as one of the greatest figures of history. 

Many years after, the English novelist Thackeray drew a 
fine picture of him in the novel, "The Virginians." With 
Thackeray's words about Washington we must close this 
sketch: "To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out 
hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulties; to keep 
heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; 
and to forego even ambition when the end is gained — who 
can say this is not greatness, or show the other Englishman 
who has achieved so much ? " 

Topical Outline. — Life in colonial Virginia; Mount Vernon and its 
master. The colonial Congresses and Washington's influence in them. 
The Patriot army about Boston. Preparations for active warfare. 
Congress takes the final step of separation. The campaigns in New York, 
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Washington's share in the victory at 
Saratoga. Hardships of the winter camp at Valley Forge. Military 
movements leading to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. End 
of the war. Washington as President and in private life. The death 
of Washington. Thackeray's opinion of the great Virginian. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a story of not less than 100 words on 
the topic, "Life in Virginia in Olden Times." II. Tell why you think 
Washington was chosen to command the Continental Army. What 
training and experience and wha,t qualities of mind and body had he 
which fitted him for this position? HI. Why was the possession of 



PRESIDENT 73 

the Hudson River deemed important by both sides? IV. Trace on 
your map the movements of Washington's army in the latter part of the 
year 1776. V. Show how Washington's campaigns in 1777 were really 
a great aid to the American army in the North and made it possible to 
defeat Burgoyne at Saratoga. VI. Write the names of as many of 
Washington's friends as you can., VII. Imagine yourself one of Wash- 
ington's soldiers. Tell your experiences in the Continental Army and 
especially why you respected and loved Washington. 

Map Work. — Locate Boston, Brooklyn, New York, the Delaware 
River, Trenton, Princeton, West Point, Brandywine Creek, Philadel- 
phia, German town, Valley Forge, White Plains, Yorktown. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Hart and Hill, "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," 
pp. 261-266; Cooke, "Stories of the Old Dominion," pp. 94-139. 

Biography. — Scudder, "Life of Washington"; Mitchell, "Youth 
of Washington"; Brooks, "True Stor)' of Washington";- Hapgood, 
* * George Washington . ' ' 

Poetry. — Br^^ant, "Song of Marion's Men." 

Fiction. — MiiohdX, "Hugh Wynne"; Stevenson, "A Soldier of Vir- 
ginia"; Hoppus, "The Great Treason"; Lossing, "Two Spies"; But- 
terworth, "Knights of Liberty"; Butterworth, "Boys of Green way 
Court"; Stoddard, "The Red Patriot"; Seawell, "A Virginia Cava- 
lier"; Tomlinson, "Washington's Young Aids." 





Washington's Sword 



SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA— 1777 



The English wanted to weaken the colonies by cutfing off 
New England from the rest. This could be done if New 
York were taken, because the colonists had few ships, and 
the English fleet could prevent communication by sea. As 
we know, New York city and Long Island had fallen into 

the possession of the English. It 
now remained to take the rest of 
the colony. This looked an easy 
matter in the war office in England; 
for Canada, an English possession, 
extended all along the northern 
boundary; a great number of the 
people in New York were Tories, or 
^""1^ people loyal to the king, and the 
Iroquois Indians, too, with the ex- 
ception of the Oneidas, were 
friendly to the English. 
The plan was to invade the state from three points. Bur- 
goyne was to enter along Lake Champlain, Howe was to 
send an army up the Hudson, and St. Leger with Indian 
allies was to enter at Oswego. Each army was to move 
toward Albany. The success of the undertaking, of course, 
depended upon each man's carrying out perfectly his instruc- 
tions. Its danger to the Patriots lay in the fact that if the 
British forces could move swiftly and could cooperate with 
each other the Americans would be caught between hostile 
forces and easily crushed. But, as you will see by glancing 

74 




General Burgoyne 



burgoyne's invasion 75 

at the map, the British generals could not communicate 
with one another; for the unexplored wilderness of the Adi- 
rondacks lay between Burgoyne and St. Leger, and the thickly 
settled country of the Patriots lay between Burgoyne and the 
English in New York city. On the other hand, the Ameri- 
can generals were constantly informed of the action of the 
enemy. General Schuyler at Albany, General Putnam on 
the lower Hudson, and General Washington at Morristown, 
had their messengers going back and forth with reports and 
orders. 

Early in June, 1777, General Burgoyne with an army of 
about 8000, consisting of English regulars, German troops 
whom King George had hired, Canadians, and Indians, 
entered the Champlain valley. On July i, they were before 
Ticonderoga, where a garrison of 3000 Americans was sta- 
tioned. This place was well fortilied and was regarded as 
practically impregnable, but a serious oversight made it in 
reality weak. Less than a mile away is a crag 600 feet high, 
jutting out into the lake. An English general noted this 
and determined to plant guns there. It was steep and 
rocky, but the general said, "Where a goat can go, a man 
can go; and where a man can go, he can haul a gun." 

On the morning of July 5, the garrison in Ticonderoga 
were amazed to see "redcoats" and brass cannon decorat- 
ing the top of this crag, which the English called Mount 
Defiance. A council of war was at once held, and the Ameri- 
cans, knowing that the fort could easily be demolished by the 
English guns at that elevation, decided to escape. Therefore, 
that night, the garrison safely crossed the lake and went to 
Gastleton in the Green Mountains. The supplies were sent 
to Fort Edward, so when the English took possession of 
Ticonderoga they found but an empty fortress. 



76 



SCHUYLER AND SAIL.4T0GA 




The Remains of Fort Ticonderoga 

The taking of this fort was at first regarded by the Enghsh 
government as practically finishing the war, but we shall see 
that it meant little. Indeed, it served to weaken Burgoyne, 
for he felt obliged to leave looo of his men to hold it, and he 
could ill afford to spare so many men. From this time on, 
his great enemy was General Philip Schuyler. 

Philip Schuyler was a descendant of one of the early Dutch 
patroons. Although he had inherited great wealth, he spent 
the best years of his life enduring the hardships of a soldier 
on the frontier. He served throughout the French and 
Indian War, and was made a general at the outbreak of the 
Revolution. He had remarkable influence with the Indians, 
but aroused the dislike and jealousy of the New England 
troops. His wisdom won for him the title of "the eye of 
the northern army." After a while he proved to be the good 



BURGOYNE S INVASION 



77 



right arm of the whole army. He was fortunate in having 
under his command able men and officers, like General 
Herkimer and Benedict Arnold, ^ who were willing to work 
and to fight. 

When Burgoyne entered the state, Schuyler commanded 
the American army stationed near Albany. After the fall 
of Ticonderoga, he moved his 
base to Fort Edward, while Bur- 
goyne reached Whitehall with 
little difficulty. Schuyler did not 
have enough men to engage the 
enemy in open battle, but he de- 
termined to make their advance 
into the state as difficult as pos- 
sible. 

The roads were few and bad at 
best. Schuyler and his men made 
them worse. They cut down 
great trees and let them fall 
across the roads. They blocked 
up streams with stones and 
stumps. They burned bridges 
and destroyed fences so that the 
English would have no material 
of which to build new ones. 
Schuyler finally decided that he 
could not hold Fort Edward, so he ordered his army to fall 
back to Stillwater, 30 miles above Albany. 

Burgoyne and his troops started from Whitehall, and the 
difficulties of marching and hauling their guns and supplies 

1 This was while Arnold was still a Patriot — three years before he 
turned traitor. 




General Schuyler 



78 SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 

were so great that they made on an average but a mile a day. 
It is said that Schuyler's work had been so well done that 
Burgoyne's men had to build forty bridges, besides getting 
out the timbers for them. This delay was a serious thing, 
for Burgoyne's food supply was nearly gone and his men found 
foraging difficult. He had expected to find the farmers 
largely Tories, but they proved to be Patriots instead. 

About this tinje occurred the sad death of Jane McCrea, 
a beautiful American girl, who was captured and murdered 
by Indian allies of Burgoyne. It was one of the influences 
that contributed to the defeat of the English, for it thor- 
oughly aroused the people of the state to fight against the 
enemy. 

Burgoyne now heard that the people of New England had 
been collecting stores of food, horses, and military supplies 
at Bennington, Vermont. If this place could be captured, it 
would furnish him what he sorely needed, and would also 
cripple the Americans. So in the middle of August he sent 
600 men to seize the stores or take the town. But the New 
Englanders did not leave a place like Bennington unprotected. 
Every man and boy for miles around considered it his per- 
sonal duty to see that those supplies were safe. 

Colonel John Stark, a man who had served in the French 
and Indian War, and had fought at Bunker Hill, Trenton, 
and Princeton, was at his home in New Hampshire. A 
message came to him that an English army had started toward 
Bennington. Without waiting for orders, he collected 800 
armed men and boys and hurried away. He reached Ben- 
nington and, not finding the enemy near, pushed out on the 
road and met them six miles away, near the village of Hoosick 
Falls in New York. The English were warned and took up 
a strong position for defense. It had rained for two or three 



79 

days. It still rained, so Colonel Stark waited in sight but 
out of reach. Green Mountain boys, Berkshire militia, and 
New England farmers kept coming to join Stark's army. 
They were a queer looking crowd, having no uniforms, and no 
bayonets, but armed with all kinds of muskets and shot guns. 

The morning of August i6th was bright and hot. Stark 
made ready to attack the English. He had been sending men 
in groups of ten or a dozen to the rear of the fortified position 
of the English. If they were seen, they aroused no suspicion, 
for they looked little like soldiers. Finally, about noon 
Stark ordered an attack. The first firing in front was to be 
the signal for the men in the rear also to fire. The English 
were amazed to find almost as large an army back of them 
as in front. In less than two hours the English commander 
was wounded and his army captured. Just then a fresh band 
of 500 came up as recnforcements, but strangely enough an 
equal number of fresh American troops appeared and again 
surrounded the invaders, who were soon captured or scat- 
tered. In this battle near Bennington, Burgoyne lost 1000 
men, of whom 700 were taken prisoners. The effect upon 
the English was most depressing, while, of course, the Amer- 
icans were jubilant. 

We recall that St. Leger was to enter the state at Oswego 
and move along the Mohawk valley. Fort Stanwix, — also 
called Fort Schuyler, — on the site of the city of Rome, 
commanded the entrance to the valley from the west. St. 
Leger reached there early in August. General Herkimer,^ 
in command of the militia in the Mohawk valley, hear- 
ing of his approach, had hurried forward to relieve the 

1 Herkimer's home, a quaint old colonial mansion, built of red brick, is 
still standing on the south bank of the Mohawk River two miles east of 
the city of Little Falls, N. Y. 



8o 



SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 



fort. He reached Oriskany, and planned that, at a given 
signal, the garrison from the fort should rush out and 
attack St. Leger, while Herkimer and his men should at- 
tack him from the rear. But a mistake was made, and 
Herkimer's men, becoming impatient because they did not 
hear the signal guns, wanted to push forward. The Indian 
scouts had warned St. Leger of their approach, and his 



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The Battle of Oriskany 

Indian allies hurried out to a place where the road crossed a 
swampy ravine. Here an ambush was formed, and when 
Herkimer and his men in a long line of march entered this 
ravine, they were attacked from all sides. The fighting was 
horrible, but Herkimer's men held their ground for hours. 
Late in the afternoon, to add to the horror, a terrible thunder- 
storm broke on them. The superstitious Indians gave way 
and fled, and the remnant of the English were also glad to 



ST. leger's invasion 8i 

leave. The Patriots held the field, but their commander 
Herkimer was mortally wounded.^ 

When the fight was over, they heard the signal guns from 
the fort, telhng thejn that the garrison was starting out. By 
this time St. Leger's men were badly scattered and the Indian 
allies had become unmanageable, so the fresh soldiers from 
the fort easily routed them. They captured from St. Leger's 
camp, besides blankets, food, and ammunition, five English 
flags. 

When the garrison returned to the fort they hoisted these 
English flags upside down, and 
high above them a new flag of 
red, white, and blue. Con- 
gress had recently adopted this 
style of flag, but the armies had 
not been supplied with them. 
The flag at Fort Stanwix had 
been hurriedly made of pieces 
of flannel and cotton that were 

at hand, and it claims the honor The First American stars and 

of being the first American stnpes 

stars and stripes flung to the breeze. This was August 6, 

1777. 

St. Leger had to fall back to a place of safety where he 
could repair his losses and win over the sullen Indian allies, 
who were deserting him. Word of this battle at Oriskany 
was hurriedly sent to Schuyler, and a call for help was made. 
Schuyler- saw the need and was ready to send help; but his 
bfficers objected, for it would weaken the army that must 
face Burgoyne. He was, however, determined to relieve 

1 A beautiful monument fittingly marks the spot where this battle was 
fought. 




82 SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 

Fort Stanwix, and was willing to assume the sole responsi- 
bility for it. Finally he cried "out: "Where is the brigadier 
who will go?" Benedict . Arnold replied, "Here he is! 
Washington sent me here to make myself useful; I will go." 
Very soon 1200 Massachusetts men had volunteered to go 
with him. 

They started immediately, but the roads were so poor and 
marching was so slow, that after a week they were still 
twenty miles from Fort Stanwix. One day, two brothers were 
captured as Tory spies. They were first sentenced to death. 
Then an idea came to Arnold, and he agreed to spare their 
lives if the younger, Yan Yost, a half-witted youth, would 
run on ahead to spread alarm among St. Leger's men. The 
elder brother was kept as a hostage. 

St. Leger's scouts had heard that an American army was 
coming up the Mohawk valley, and while the matter was 
being discussed in camp, Yan Yost came running in with 
bullet holes in his clothes. With a frightened manner he 
said that he had had a narrow escape from the American 
army. They asked him how large the approaching army 
was, and he declared the soldiers were as numerous as the 
leaves on the trees. Very likely Arnold's army did seem 
very large to him when he was under sentence of death as a 
spy. He was recognized as a Tory and his story was believed. 
The Indians deserted. The camp became panic-stricken, 
and by noon the next day, August 22, St. Leger's army had 
melted away. The few who clung to the general were set 
upon by unfriendly Indians before they reached Oswego; 
so it was but a handful of soldiers who sailed with St. Leger 
for Montreal a few days later. 

The battle of Oriskany, unimportant in itself, and the 
failure of St. Leger's expedition, were nevertheless of the 



BURGOYNE S INVASION 



83 



greatest importance in their effect upon the fortunes of the 
war for independence. The heroic frontiersmen who de- 
fended the outpost at Fort Stanwix, the rash bravery of 
Herkimer and his men, and the shrewdness and courage of 
Arnold checked St. Leger and his aUies, and prevented their 
sweeping through the Mohawk val- 
ley and cooperating with Burgoyne. 
This made possible the American vic- 
tory at Saratoga, of which we are next 
to read. 

We know that General Howe, in- 
stead of coming up the Hudson to ful- 
fill his part of the plan, had gone to 
Philadelphia, where Washington was 
keeping him occupied. Burgoyne's 
position north of Albany was becom- 
ing critical. He had been deprived 
of the help of the other two armies, 
and had lost heavily at Bennington. 
The farmers about him were hostile, 
and food was very difficult to get. 

At just this time, when the prospect 
of driving Burgoyne out of the state 
was very good, some of Schuyler's 
enemies succeeded in getting Congress to take the command 
away from him. General Gates, who had never been known 
to do much but boast, was appointed to take his place and 
reap the fruits of Schuyler's hard work. Schuyler's fine, 
manly character showed itself at this time. He courte- 
ously handed over the authority to Gates and assured him 
that he would be glad to aid him in any way he could. 
Gates showed his baseness by not even asking General 

MAK. & DEF. — 6 




General Gates 



84 



SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 



Schuyler to his first council of officers. This change of com- 
manders would have been disastrous had it not been for the 
presence of the fighting General Arnold, who, as we shall 
see, was responsible for the victories at Bemis Heights or 
Stillwater. 

On September 13, Burgoyne crossed to the west bank of 
the Hudson and moved toward Albany, fifty miles south. 




Arnold in a Charge at the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm 

The American army under Gates was intrenched on a ridge 
known as Bemis Heights. The right wing covered the road 
to Albany, the center was protected by dense woods, and the 
left under Arnold lay a little in advance in the open fields. 
On September 18, the English army camped two miles from 
this position. The next morning, Arnold with about 3000 
men was sent to check the advance of the enemy, and a hard 
battle was fought on Freeman's farm, while the main part 



GATES IN COMMAND 85 

of the American army was idle on Bemis Heights. Long 
after dark, Arnold drew his men back to the intrenchments, 
and the English slept on the field. 

The two armies remained opposite each other until Octo- 
ber 7, when Burgoyne invited battle, apparently to cover the 
work of a foraging party. This battle also was fought on 
Freeman's farm, and Arnold was again a hero. These two 
battles have been called by various names, as Bemis Heights, 
Stillwater, and Freeman's Farm; and to-day the place is 
known as Schuylerville. 

General Burgoyne now led the remnant of his army in 
retreat to Saratoga, stopping on the way to burn the beautiful 
summer home of General Schuyler. He soon found, to his 
surprise, that his little army was actually surrounded by at 
least 20,000 men, hostile and armed, if not all regularly 
enlisted soldiers. Burgoyne saw it was hopeless to resist, and 
sent to Gates, asking what terms of surrender would be 
accepted. 

It was agreed that the English should break camp, stack 
their arms, march through Massachusetts to Boston, and sail 
at once for Europe with the understanding that none of them 
should serve again during the war in America. 

We can picture to ourselves the army of gallant English 
soldiers and German veterans under Burgoyne's command, 
as they marched out of camp, October 17, 1777. They piled 
their guns, swords, and cartridge belts in a corner of the field 
near the river. Then they formed in line and marched past 
the American troops. An English officer afterward said: 
"I did not observe the least disrespect or even a taunting 
look, but all was mute astonishment and pity." Burgoyne 
stepped forward and handed his sword to General Gates, 
saying, "The fortunes of war have made me your prisoner." 



86 



SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 



The American general returned the sword, saying, "I shall 
always be ready to testify that* it has not been through any 
fault of your Excellency." 




The Surrender of Burgoyne 

The wife and children of one of the officers were brought 
into camp just after the surrender, and in the following pas- 
sage she has told how she was received. "As I approached 
the tents a noble-looking gentleman came toward me, took 
the children out of the wagon, and embraced and kissed them; 
and then with tears in his eyes, helped me to alight. Pres- 
ently he said, 'It may be embarrassing to you to dine w^ith 
so many gentlemen. If you will come with your children to 
my tent, I will give you a frugal meal, but one seasoned with 
good wishes.'" This man was General Schuyler. 

Schuyler showed in many other ways his generous spirit. 



burgoyne's surrender . 87 

When, a few days later, Burgoyne expressed to him regret 
that the Ejighsh soldiers had burned his beautiful country 
home at Saratoga, Schuyler urged the English general to 
think no more about it, saying that, according to the rules of 
war, it was justifiable. When Burgoyne started for Albany, 
Schuyler furnished an escort who took the English general 
to Schuyler's city home, where Burgoyne was cordially 
received by Mrs. Schuyler and entertained for several days. 
The surrender of Burgoyne near Saratoga in October, 1777, 
is regarded as the turning point in the Revolutionary War. 
It not only saved New York state and disposed of a whole 
army, but it influenced France to send aid to the colonies, 
thus enlisting that powerful nation on our side in the struggle 
with England. 

Topical Outline. — England planned to cut off New England by tak- 
ing New York. Burgoyne was to enter by Lake Champlain, Howe by the 
Hudson River and St. Leger at Oswego, each to move toward Albany. 
Fall of Ticonderoga. Schuyler blocked up Burgoyne's roads. A mile a 
day. English defeated at Bennington. Battle at Oriskany. Herkimer 
killed. Stars and Stripes raised over Fort Stanwix. Burgoyne sur- 
rounded; surrendered October 17, 1777. Chief result, aid from France. 

For Written Work. — I. Indicate on outline map the routes taken 
by English armies and places where battles were fought. II. Write 
a story, from imagination or memory, of the making of the flag at Fort 
Stanwix. III. What were the weak points in the English plan of in- 
vading New York I IV. Write a paragraph to show that Washington 
helped in bringing about Burgoyne's surrender. 

Map Work. — Locate Montreal, Lake Champlain, Lake George, 
Ticonderoga, Whitehall, Bennington, Fort Edward, Bcmis Heights, 
Stillwater, Oswego, Fort Stanwix (Fort Schuyler), Oriskany. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Frentice, "Histor>' of New York State," pp. 262-275; 
Williams, ''Stories from Early New York Histor)'," pp. 182-199; Brooks, 



88 



SCHUYLER AND SARATOGA 



"Century Book of the American Revolution," pp. 159-173; Hart and 
Hill, "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 253-265; 272-279. 

Biography. — Tuckerman, "Philip Schuyler." 

Fiction. — Frederic, "In the Valley"; Altsheler, "The Sun of Sara- 
toga"; Thompson, "The Green Mountain Boys"; Otis, "Boys of Fort 
Schuyler" ; Tomlinson, " Two Young Patriots." M 

Note. — Those desiring to refer to a somewhat similar campaign ■ 
in the Champlain valley during the French and Indian War will find 
the material in Foote and Skinner's "Explorers and Founders of 
America," pp. 300-302. 




Cannon used in the Revolution 



GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE 



He was a 



Nathanael Greene was a descendant of John Greene, 
who with Roger Williams settled in Rhode Island in 1636. 
He was born in 1742. His father was a rich man, owning a 
forge, a sawmill, a gristmill, and a general store, besides many 
acres of land. 

Nathanael was the fifth of nine children, 
sturdy boy of happy disposition and 
very bright mind. His father, how- 
ever, did not believe in much educa- 
tion. He had his children learn to 
read and write, but he believed that 
the Bible was the only book worthy 
of study. The boy wanted to go to 
school, and when he was fourteen he 
met a college boy who told of his 
work. Nathanael then teased his 
father until he gained permission to study Latin and geom- 
etry for a time with a tutor. 

Although the father was a rich man, he did not allow the 
boy much spending money. Nathanael, knowing his father's 
prejudice against books, did not ask for money to buy them. 
Instead he watched the men at the forge until he was able to 
make some toy anchors, which he took to Newport and sold. 
With the money he went to a bookstore and said that he 
wanted to buy a book. When asked what book, he really 
did not know. A man standing near heard the boy, and 

89 




General Greene 



90 NATHANAEL GREENE 

not only helped him to select a book, but told him of others 
good to read. This first visit to a bookstore was made when 
Nathanael was fifteen. It was often repeated until, when he 
became a man, he had a well-selected library.- 

We know that Quakers do not believe in war. Although 
Nathanael had been brought up a Quaker, in 1773 he beheved 
it was the duty of all people to resist the English oppression 
and defend the rights of the colonists. He began to attend 
military parades and to talk about organizing a company. 
Such conduct could not be excused, so he was expelled from 
the Quaker Meeting. This same thing happened with many 
other young men brought up in the Quaker belief. 

Greene helped to organize what was known as the " Kentish 
Guards," a company of young men who secured a good drill 
master and trained so faithfully that during the war they 
furnished to the army thirty-two officers of distinction. 
When word came of the battles of Lexington and Concord, 
Greene started at once for Concord. A few weeks later, 
Rhode Island had raised three regiments, and Greene was 
appointed their commander. They joined the army near 
Boston. When Washington took command in July, 1775, 
Greene, although but thirty-three years of age, was selected 
as one of the eight brigadiers general. This was the begin- 
ning of a close personal friendship between the two men, which 
lasted until General Greene's death. 

We recall that Washington, having succeeded in driving 
the Enghsh from Boston in March, 1776, then hurried to hold 
New York. Greene was placed in command of the troops 
on Long Island. He made himself perfectly famihar with 
all the roads, hills, and places of landing on the island. His 
troops were under good discipline, and work was going on 
nicely, when he was taken sick with fever just five days before 



WAR IN THE NORTH 9 1 

the battle of Long Island. This was most unfortunate, 
and General Greene for months afterward could not get over 
the bitter disappointment that he was not able to command 
his men at so critical a time. From this time until 1780 he 
was in every battle fought by Washington, save that at White 
Plains. 

Every year since the war began, the English had made 
attempts to get possession of the southern states, but not until 
December, 1779, did they make extensive plans to do so. 
Then Clinton and Cornwallis with 8000 men sailed for 
Savannah, which they took with litde difficulty. They then 
moved north, and after a siege of two months took Charleston. 

General Gates was sent south in June, 1780, to check the 
progress of the English. In August, Gates was defeated and 
his army destroyed by Cornwallis at Camden, S. C. A few 
weeks later Cornwallis sent a band of 1200 men back into 
the mountains of South CaroHna to enlist Tories. There 
proved to be fewer in the region than they supposed; and the 
backwoodsmen, hearing of the approach of the English, began 
to swarm on their trail. These hardy mountaineers were 
good shots and knew every inch of the country. They were 
used to exposure and the difficulties of wilderness fighting. 
When the English leader realized the hostility of these men, 
he took up a position on Kings Mountain, wdiere he thought 
he could easily defeat them. The Americans knew the 
mountain better than he, and they charged up the steep sides 
in three divisions. Desperate fighting followed, but the Eng- 
lish were utterly defeated. The Americans captured 1500 
stands of arms, wdiich they sorely needed. This victory 
in October served to offset the crushing defeat of Gates in 
August. 

Meanwhile Greene was on his way south, not only to take 




THE 

SOUTHERN COLONIES 

.DURING THE 

REVOLUTIOJf 

SCALE OF MILES 



150 200 



LJ_PO«TES, ENSn, I 



Long'itude 82 West 



Greenwich 76 



92 



REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH 93 

command but to create an army in the southern states and 
to drive out the English. Washington gave Greene full 
authority to do whatever in his judgment seemed best under 
the circumstances. It was probably the most important com- 
mission granted to any general during the war. General 
Greene was unacquainted with the character of the country 
and with the resources at his command. He was not the man 
to hesitate, however, when Washington asked him to do any- 
thing. So without even bidding his wife and children good-by, 
he hurried off to South Carolina. 

Cornwallis and Greene had met on many battlefields, and 
they had great respect for each other's ability. Cornwallis 
once wrote, "Greene is as dangerous as Washington; he is 
vigilant, enterprising, and full of resources. With but little 
hope of gaining an advantage over him, I never feel secure 
when encamped in his neighborhood." General Greene was 
thirty-eight and Cornwallis four years older. Both men had 
small armies under command, and the field of operation was 
immense. "The game was played with the greatest skill 
on both sides, and no campaign in American history has illus- 
trated the art of war in its highest branches more fully than 
the campaign of 1781," says one writer. 

General Greene made friends of the sharpshooters and 
the unorganized backwoodsmen who had won the victory at 
Kings Mountain. He learned from these men the lay of 
the land and the positions of the English troops. Unlike 
General Gates, he saw the value of cavalry troops, and he was 
fortunate in having Colonel William Washington and Major 
Henry Lee (Light Horse Harry) as cavalry leaders. 

We must remember that the English were holding Charles- 
ton on the coast, and Augusta, Fort Ninety-six, and other 
points in the interior froni which to draw army supplies, 



94 



NATHANAEL GREENE 



These places are arranged in crescent shape, with one point 
on the coast, and the other in the mountains of South Caro- 
Hna. Greene decided to divide his army, keeping one division 
in the east at Cheraw to threaten the right wing on the coast, 
and sending the other division under General Morgan to 
threaten the interior points held by the English. Each divi- 
sion was made up of militia, regulars, cavalry, and sharp- 
shooters. This action of Greene's compelled Cornwallis also 
to divide his army. For, if he attacked Greene in the east, 
Morgan would take the places in the west; while, if he started 
toward Morgan, Greene would take the coast towns and cut 
off his base on the sea. 

Cornwallis was now in a serious dilemma, but he did 
the best he could. He sent a brave young leader with half 
his force to check Morgan in the west, while he pushed into 




The Battle of Cowpens 



REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH 95 

North Carolina, hoping to draw Greene after him. On the 
approach of the English, Morgan was near Kings Mountain. 
He chose a cattle-grazing ground, known as Cowpens, for his 
position, and arranged his men with care. He placed his 
militia in front; back of them hidden by trees were the regular 
troops, while Colonel Washington's cavalry were behind them 
near the river. The English made their attack. The militia, 
after firing a few volleys, swung around as if to retreat. The 
English closed ranks to follow them and came up in front of the 
regulars, then the cavalry rode around the ends of the battle 
Hne and hemmed in the English. A short fight followed, and 
the English were overwhelmingly defeated. In this battle 
at Cowpens, Cornwallis lost over one third of his forces in 
the South, besides 1000 stands of arms. 

Morgan immediately moved northeast to join ' Greene. 
Cornwallis tried to intercept him, but failed. Then General 
Greene determined to draw Cornwallis north, far away from 
his base of supplies, and compel him to fight. Cornwallis 
did not understand the trick, and as Greene rapidly retreated 
through North Carolina, Cornwallis followed. 

Thirty miles from the Virginia border Greene took up his 
position at Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis was eager for 
battle, and for five hours on March 15 the two armies fought 
desperately. At nightfall General Greene retired, leaving 
Lord Cornwallis in possession of the field, but with an army 
too badly whipped to move. Cornwallis could claim the 
victory at Guilford, but it was meaningless, for he was left in 
a hostile country two hundred miles from his base of supplies 
with a small remnant of 1600 men. He dared not try to march 
back to South Carolina, but he could not stay where he was, 
so he hurried to Wilmington. He remained there but two 
weeks; then he marched to Petersburg, Virginia, to join 



g6 NATHANAEL GREENE 

Other English troops and move on toward Yorktown, where 
in the fall he was obliged to surrender. 

After the batde at Guilford, General Greene returned south, 
and with Major Henry Lee, Morgan, and Colonel Washington 
succeeded by March, 1782, in retaking all the places held by 
the English in the Carolinas and Georgia. Fiske says of 
the work of Greene: "So consummate had been his strategy 
that, whether victorious or defeated on the field, he had, in 
every instance, gained the object for which the campaign was 
made." 

General Greene remained in the South until July, 1783, 
when he started north on horseback. In fifteen weeks he 
rode a thousand miles, passing through towns and cities where 
he was always welcomed as a great war hero. The winter of 
1 783-1 784 he spent in Newport with his wife and four chil- 
dren, whom he had not seen together for nine years. The fol- 
lowing summer, he returned to Georgia to make his future 
home. 

He had a large, comfortable house, with plenty of books in 
the library and torses in the stable. His wife and children 
were with him, and he had apparently everything he wished 
for. In a letter written to a friend in April, 1786, he says: 
" We are planting. We have got upwards of 60 acres of corn 
planted and expect to plant 130 acres of rice. The garden 
is delightful. . . . We have in the same orchard apples, 
pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, figs, pomegranates 
and oranges. And we have strawberries that measure three 
inches around." After eight years of the soldier's life, he 
found the life of a country gentleman very attractive. 

On June 13, 1786, he was out in the rice fields several 
hours in the middle of the day and suffered a sunstroke, 
from which he died three days later, at the age of forty-four. 



REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH 97 

General Wayne (Mad Anthony), who was with him, wrote 
to a friend: "He was a great soldier, greater as a citizen, 
immaculate as a friend. . . . Pardon this scrawl; my 
feelings are too much affected, because I have seen a great 
and good man die." 

"The patient, brave, enduring, often defeated but never 
conquered man, the hard fighting soldier, the keen strategist 
had gone to his reward at last. His work was done and well 
done," says Senator Lodge. 

Topical Outline. — General Greene's boyhood and character. Early 
career as a soldier. English invasion of the South. Greene sent — his 
army and methods. Cowpens. Greene's retreat to Guilford Court- 
house. Cornwallis outgeneraled, goes to Virginia. Greene retakes 
the Carolinas and Georgia. Greene as a man. 

For Written Work. — I. On an outline map trace routes taken by 
both English and American armies. Mark battlefields. II. In a para- 
graph explain how a commander may be defeated in battle and really 
win a victory. 

Map Work. — Locate Savannah, Charleston, Camden, Kings Moun- 
tain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, Wilmington, N. C, Yorktown. 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — Greene, ''General Greene." 
Fiction. — Frost, "The Swamp Fox." 



NATHAN HALE — THE MARTYR SPY 

j> 
After the battle of Long Island, Washington placed his 

army in the best positions for holding Manhattan Island. 
Expecting the enemy to follow him at once, he held himself 
ready for defense at any time. Days went by, and the Eng- 
lish did not come. Washington could not understand their 
delay. He feared that they were planning another move, and 
he wanted to find out what. If their positions on Long 
Island were exposed, he might turn around and strike them. 
Good generalship demanded that he know how things stood 
within the enemy's lines. He asked for a volunteer to go as 
a spy. Nathan Hale, a young captain, offered to go. 

Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut, June 6, 
1755. His parents were people of means and refinement. 
As a child, he was delicate and was very tenderly reared. 
When he grew up, he became fond of outdoor life and sports 
and developed into a fine, strong young man. His father 
wished him to become a minister, so he was prepared for col- 
lege by the Rev. Joseph Huntington. His mind was quick, 
and he readily responded to books and instruction. He was 
graduated from Yale at eighteen. His commencement 
speech was an argument in favor of giving girls the same 
educational privileges as boys. 

Nathan Hale is described at this time as being ''almost 
six feet in height, perfectly proportioned, and in figure and 
development . . . the most manly man I have ever 
seen. His chest was broad; his muscles were firm; his face 

98 



THE MARTYR SPY 99 

wore a most benign expression; his complexion was fresh; 
his eyes were light blue and beamed with intelligence; his 
hair was soft and light brown in color, and his speech was 
rather low, sweet and musical. His personal beauty and 
grace of manner were most charming. In dress he was 
always neat; he was quick to lend a helping hand to a being 
in distress, brute or human; he was overflowing with good 
humor and was loved by all who knew him." 

He taught school most successfully for nearly two years, 
until word came of the battle of Lexington. Then in a 
public speech he urged men to action. He said, ''Let us 
march immediately, and never lay down our arms until we 
have obtained our independence." 

He at once enlisted and was made lieutenant. In Sep- 
tember, his regiment was ordered to Cambridge, where he 
shared in the siege of Boston. In January, 1776, he was 
made captain, and after the English were driven out of Boston 
he went with Washington to New York. During the summer, 
he served in building fortifications on Manhattan Island. 
He was not in the battle of Long Island, but a few days later, 
with a small band of picked men, he captured at midnight a 
supply boat that was anchored under the guns of an English 
war ship. It was a daring feat and neatly done, without any 
loss save a little time. The food was distributed among the 
hungry soldiers in the patriot army. 

When Washington called for a volunteer to enter the 
enemy's lines, Hale offered to go. He knew perfectly well 
what he was doing. He knew the work was the work of a 
spy. He knew that if he were recognized by the English, it 
would be death for him. He also knew that such information 
as he could get would be of great value to Washington. It 
might possibly save the country. If so, it was worth his life. 



lOO NATHAN HALE 

In any case, Washington wanted to know the plans of the 
enemy: that of itself was enough. When he entered the army 
he entered for service. He was a subordinate officer. His 
commander said, "Who will undertake this work?" "I 
will," was the cheerful reply of Captain Hale. 

He disguised himself as a traveling schoolmaster and 
crossed the Sound from Connecticut to Long Island. He 
got a pass into the lines. Wherever he went he talked as a 
Tory, showing a friendly feeling for the English. He went 
about freely, visited all the places indicated in his orders, such 
as Brooklyn, Flatbush, and the great English camps from 
Bushwick to Jamaica. He made note of the fortifications; 
few of those built by the Americans had been repaired. He 
had done his work well and was about to return, wdien he was 
recognized by a Tory relative, who reported the matter to 
General Howe. 

Hale had planned to cross the Sound to Connecticut from 
Huntington on the north shore of Long Island. Just as he 
was stepping into his boat, he was arrested and taken to 
Howe's headquarters. When charged with being a spy, he 
denied nothing. He gave his name and rank in the American 
army, and surrendered his notes and papers. He was then 
condemned to death. 

He asked for writing materials; one of his keepers gave 
them, and he wrote a few notes of farewell to the members of 
his family and to friends. Then he asked that a clergyman 
might come to him, but this was denied. He asked that he 
might have a Bible to read during the few hours left for him 
to hve; that, too, was denied him. 

The officer who led him out to the scaffold on the evening 
of September 22, 1776, tauntingly said, "This is a fine death 
for a soldier to die." Captain Hale replied, "If I had ten 



THE MARTYl'l SPY 



lOI 



thousand lives to live, I would lay them down in defense of 

my injured and bleeding country." Another officer stepped 

forward, holding the letters that Hale had written the night 

before, and tore them 

up before the eyes of 

the young hero. But 

even that did not 

cause him to flinch, 

and his last words 

were, "I only regret 

that I have but one 

life to give for my 

country." 

There is always 
some one who is sym- 
pathetic at such a 
time. Hale probably 
thought no one stood 
by who would report 
to his friends how he 
met that last trial. 
But men were there 
who were fired with 
admiration for him 
and told of his death 
in spite of the fact 
that the English of- 
ficers said, "The rebels shall never know that they had a man 
who could die with such firmness." 

Near Huntington, at Halesite, where he was arrested, is 
a large bowlder with a bronze tablet to the memory of this 
brave young man. And in City Hall Park, New York, is the 

MAK. &. DEF — 7 




Statue of Nathan Hale, New York 



102 



NATHAN HALE 



beautiful bronze statue of the boyish figure as he stood bound 
for execution. It is a daily reminder to the thousands hurry- 
ing by, that our independence was bought by some of the 
best blood of the land. 






Topical Outline. — Washington's army on Manhattan Island. Eng- 
lish army on Long Island. Washington needed to know of the plans of 
the English. Captain Hale offered to enter the enemy's lines. His 
life's work. His manly death. 

For Written Work. — I. Why do you like Nathan Hale ? II. If Hale 
had returned safe, show how his work might have helped Washington. 



Poetry. 



Collateral Reading 

Francis M. Finch, "Nathan Hale." 




Hale Monument at Huntington 



JOHN PAUL JONES — FOUNDER OF THE 
AMERICAN NAVY 



When the Revolutionary War broke out, England was 
mistress of the seas. Her navy was the largest and best in 
Europe: she had at least one thousand well-armed ships. 
America had practically none. The need for war ships was 
greatly felt by Washington, and efforts were made to build 
and man vessels for service. The first undertakings did not 
amount to much, but after 1777 
the American navy did some good 
work, largely through the splen- 
did efforts of John Paul Jones. 

John Paul was born in Scot- 
land in the summer of 1747. His 
father was a gardener, a man of 
quiet manner and humble tastes. 
His mother was of Highland 
birth. Probably the boy inher- 
ited much of his love of adven- 
ture and daring spirit from his 
Highland ancestors. His child- 
hood was brief. His school days were few, for at the age 
of twelve John Paul had learned to manage a fishing boat 
in very rough weather off the Scottish coasts — an exercise 
that certainly could not be called child's play. 

John Paul's eldest brother, William, had some years 
before been adopted by a distant relative, William Jones, 

103 




John Paul Jones 



I04 JOHN PAUL JONES 

a Virginia planter, and had taken the name of William 
Paul Jones. When John Paul was thirteen he was bound 
as shipmaster's apprentice to James Younger, owner of the 
Friendship. His first long sea voyage was to Virginia in 
1760 for a cargo of tobacco. On this trip he met for the first 
time his brother William. The old planter, William Jones, 
took a fancy to the thirteen-year-old lad and wanted to adopt 
him, but the boy preferred the sailor's life. He remained with 
Mr. Younger four years, and made several voyages to the 
West Indies and to the coasts of Africa. Before he was 
twenty, he was made captain. The most profitable form of 
traffic was that in negroes taken from Africa and sold as 
slaves in the South. Our young captain disliked this so that 
early in his career he absolutely refused to have anything to 
do with such business. 

During these years, John Paul visited many cities and met 
many merchants and bankers. His business sense was keen, 
and as his grasp of foreign languages was also quick, he 
became an excellent student of French. In fact, he knew it 
so well that he wrote in it quite as readily as in English. It 
is interesting that our knowledge of him to-day is largely 
gained from his French papers. 

In 1773 his brother in Virginia died, and he then went to 
settle the estate. The life of the planter appealed to him, so 
he remained and became a genuine American. Soon after 
this, William Jones, the old gentleman who had adopted his 
brother, died and left his property to John Paul, provided 
he took the name of Jones. From this time he was known as 
John Paul Jones and as such became famous. 

In the summer of 1775 the Continental Congress deter- 
mined to create a naval force and sent for Captain John 
Paul Jones to tell them what kind of ships were best and 



THE NAVY IN THE REVOLUTION 



105 



what qualities were necessary for a naval commander. They 
also asked his aid in purchasing ships. Although he was but 
twenty-eight, his judgment was sound on these questions and 
was followed by Congress so far as their money would allow. 
By December, Congress had succeeded in getting five 
vessels, and Jones was made 



first lieutenant of one called 
Alfred. It was on this ship the 
following November (1776), 
that Jones with his own hands 
raised the first American na- 
val flag. This flag consisted 
of thirteen stripes, and instead 
of stars there was a pine tree, 
at the base of which was 
coiled a snake with the words : 
" Don't tread on me." Two 




The First Naval Flag 



years later his ship received from a French commander the 
first salute ever given to an American flag by a foreign man- 
of-war. 

Congress, for political reasons, put Commodore Hopkins, 
a man of less experience, in command of the first fleet. In 
February, 1776, the litde fleet went to Nassau on the island of 
New Providence in the Bahama group (about 200 miles from 
the coast of southern Florida), where was collected a large 
amount of military stores. The town was poorly defended, 
and was captured with little trouble. The Americans secured 
88 cannon, 15 large mortars, 11,000 rounds of shot, and 20 
casks of powder, and sailed home with their precious cargo. 
After this cruise Captain Jones was given an independent 
command, and whatever he undertook always had a dash and 
daring which made it most thrilling. 



io6 



JOHN PAUL JONES 




American Sea- 
man 



One of the first expeditions was against the Cape Breton 
fisheries. He found three En^hsh schooners in a harbor. 
He sank one and burned another, after trans- 
ferring the cargo to the third. When this was 
done, he learned that nine other EngHsh boats 
were on the other side of the bay. The daunt- 
less captain cornered these boats and told the 
crews that if they would help him fit out such 
of the vessels as he wished for his use, he would 
let them return to England in safety. They 
set to work and helped him, and then he sent 
the crews off to England in three small vessels 
that he did not care for. In six weeks, without 
bloodshed, he had broken up the Cape Breton 
fishing, had captured valuable cargoes, and had taken sixteen 
vessels, eight of which he destroyed while the others were 
refitted and added to the American service. 

Captain Jones was a shrewd and skillful 
sailor. He knew that his ships were not armed 
heavily enough to engage the English ships in 
battle, so he confined his work to intercepting 
supply boats in or near the harbors. Once 
finding a provision boat aground at the en- 
trance to a harbor, he stole up and burned it. 
At another time he captured a boat loaded with 
clothing and ammunition for the English army. 
These supplies were turned over to Washing- 
ton's soldiers, who greatly needed them. He 
seized vessels loaded with coal and towed them to his own 
stations. All of these enterprises were on a small scale, but 
they served steadily to cripple the English and to add a little 
to the resources of the Americans. 




American Marine 



THE NAVY IN THE REVOLUTION 107 

After the surrender of Burgoyne in October, 1777, France 
became an ally of America. So in 1778, when Jones was 
sent to prowl around the British coast, he used that country 
as the base from which to make his raids. His ships were 
small and swift. England never dreamed that an American 
ship would have the audacity to venture near her shore, so at 
first she was off her guard. One day Jones met a ship with 
a cargo of flax crossing the English Channel. He took it, sent 
the crew to France, and sank the ship. If he overhauled a 
ship having a valuable cargo, it was placed under proper com- 
mand and sent to France, while he hurried on his way. At 
one time, while in command of the Ranger, he slipped into the 
harbor of Whitehaven, on the northwest coast of England, 
set fire to the shipping there^ and was out and far on his way 
before the fire was discovered. 

At another time he landed, seized a nobleman, and took 
him on board ship, without injury or discourtesy, to hold in 
exchange for some prisoner. In all these activities, Jones 
was never known to show cruel treatment to anyone, not 
even to the crews of captured vessels. 

Benjamin Franklin, minister to France, had supervision 
of all the naval affairs of the colonies. Through his influ- 
ence, several excellent ships of French build were secured. 
One of these in 1779 was assigned to Captain Jones. He at 
once renamed it Bon Homme Richard as a compliment to 
Franklin, the author of ''Poor Richard's Almanac." It was 
this ship that won the famous battle with the Serapis. 

On September 17, 1779, Jones with his little squadron of 
four ships attempted to enter the harbor of Leith, Scotland, 
but a heavy gale prevented. Scott, who was a boy at the 
time, has described the event in "Waverley." He says, "A 
steady and powerful west wind settled the matter by sweep- 



io8 



JOHN PAUL JONES 



ing Paul Jones and his vessels out of the Firth." A few days 
later, Captain Jones destroyed -several vessels in the Humber 
River. On September 23, he caught sight of a fleet of forty 
merchant vessels protected by the Serapis off Flamborough 
Head, on the northeast coast of England. Captain Jones 
ordered his vessels to give chase. The merchant vessels 
hurried out of the way, but the Serapis accepted his chal- 
lenge. 

The fight began at half past seven in the evening, and lasted 



1 




The Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis 



four hours. The Serapis had heavier guns, and to nullify 
their terrible work Captain Jones grappled her and lashed 
the two ships together side by side. The firing was furious 
and deadly. When the Richard began to leak Jones released 
over a hundred prisoners and made them work at the pumps. 
The firing was so incessant that the men were almost crazed. 
The powder boys on board the Serapis, whose duty it was 
to bring up the cartridges for the gunners, became so fright- 



THE NAVY IN THE REVOLUTION IO9 

ened that they flung some cartridges on deck and fled to cover. 
A hand grenade thrown from the Richard set Are to them, 
and the explosion was awful. Both ships were on fire, but 
fire could be checked more easily than the terrible rents in 
the hulls could be mended. 

Finally, about midnight, the brave commander of the 
Serapis saw that all was lost for him, and with his own hands 
he struck his flag. Captain Jones then took possession of the 
Serapis, for the Richard had three feet of water in the hold. 

The rest of the night was spent in getting the wounded 
removed to safety and in trying to keep the Richard afloat. 
The next day she had to be abandoned. Captain Jones 
wrote: "A little after ten o'clock I saw, with inexpressible 
grief, the last glimpse of the Bo7t Homme Richard. No lives 
were lost as the boat went down." Captain Jones tried to 
reach a French port with the Serapis and his 500 prisoners, 
but the crippled condition of the captive ship made a stop in 
Holland necessary. 

This victory was a marvel to all Europe. Respect for 
America grew. Captain Jones was the hero of the day. The 
king of France made him a Knight of the Order of Merit, and 
gave him a gold sword. The captain tried to exchange his 
prisoners, including the commander of the Serapis, for the 
Americans kept in English dungeons, but for months the 
offer was rejected. It is estimated that he had taken or 
destroyed a hundred English vessels during his three years on 
the sea. 

Early in 1781 Captain John Paul Jones returned to America, 
where Congress and the people in many ways showed their 
gratitude for his faithful work. 

In 1787, the Revolutionary War being over, he entered the 
service of Russia as rear admiral and won a great victory 



no JOHN PAUL JONES 

over the Turks. Shortly afterward, he returned to America 
and took up the hfe of a planter. Although he had never 
married, his home was made beautiful and hospitable, but 
he did not remain long in it. He was appointed consul to 
Algiers in 1792, but died in Paris, on his w^ay thither, at the 
age of forty-five. He was given a stately funeral and was 
buried in Paris. In the summer of 1905, one hundred and 
thirteen years later, his body was brought to America and 
placed in a tomb at Annapolis, Maryland, the seat of Amer- 
ica's Naval Academy. 

Topical Outline. — Acquainted with the sea as a young boy. Served 
four years a shipmaster's apprentice. In 1773 went to Virginia, was 
made William Jones's heir, and became John Paul Jones. Entered 
naval service of the colonies. Captured many EngHsh vessels. Bon 
Homme Richard and Serapis. America's debt to him. 

For Written Work. — I. Imagine you are a member of the crew on 
the Bon Homme Richard; describe your experiences. II. Write a para- 
graph stating why the capture of merchant vessels is good warfare. 

Map Work. — Locate Nassau, Whitehaven, Flamborough Head. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Khhoii, "Blue Jackets of '76," pp. 83-154; Beebe, "Four 
American Naval Heroes," pp. 17-68. 

Biography. — Abbott, "Paul Jones"; Brady, "Paul Jones"; Sewell, 
"Paul Jones"; Hapgood, "Paul Jones." 

Fiction. — Cooper, "The Pilot." 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

When the colonies resolved to resist the tyranny of the 
mother country, they saw that there must be some central 
authority to direct this resistance. Their delegates had met 
in conventions to consider plans of union, and from these 
conventions had issued protests to the king and appeals to 
the colonists. How this growing spirit of freedom resulted 
in the Declaration of Independence, severing the ties which 
bound us to England, will be told in the life of Jefferson. 

We ought now to study the form of government under 
which the war for independence was fought. The directing 
power was the Continental Congress, consisting of delegates 
from each of the colonies. This was merely an advisory 
body, whom the people trusted and generally obeyed as long 
as there was an enemy to fight. So this Congress raised 
armies, elected commanding generals, and waged war, by 
common consent. 

It also sought to form a loose union of the colonies, and so 
drafted, in 1777, an agreement known as the Articles of 
Confederation. By this instrument, a general government 
was created, consisting only of a lawmaking department with 
such powers as the Congress was already exercising, but with 
no executive officers to enforce its laws and with no system of 
courts to interpret them. The Articles of Confederation were 
finally adopted in 1781 by the consent of all the colonies, 
which were now states, since all of them had formed inde- 
pendent governments. It must be kept clearly in mind that 

III 



112 THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

none of these states surrendered any of their sovereign powers 
when they entered the Confederation. They simply joined 
together in a league of friendship for common defense. Dur- 
ing the actual progress of the war the people did not fully 
realize how weak and inadequate was this form of government. 
After its close, the need of united action was less apparent, 
though none the less real. The Articles of Confederation 
gave Congress the power to regulate commerce and to collect 
revenue through port duties. It could issue paper money, and 
it did so as fast as the printing presses could turn the currency 
out, but the actual value of the money so issued became smaller 
and smaller each year. When it needed funds for its main- 
tenance. Congress could levy upon each state its share of 
the expenses, but it had no power to enforce the collection 
of these levies. It had great difficulty in persuading them to 
give money, and it had practically no other way to get funds. 
So the general government came to be more and more 
distrusted, while the state governments increased in power 
and influence. This led to serious disputes between states 
in matters of trade and commerce. Each state, exercising 
the right to levy such duties as it saw fit, built up a system 
of revenue duties for its own benefit, at the expense of its 
neighbors. Thus, New York taxed firewood brought within 
its borders from Connecticut and dairy products from New 
Jersey, and the latter state in retaliation imposed a tax of 
$1800 upon a lighthouse belonging to New York but situated 
on the Jersey shore. The spirit of unity, which had drawn 
the people together, was fast disappearing. The war had 
exhausted the resources of the people, taxes were heavy, and 
the purchase of manufactured goods from abroad had drained 
the country of its hard money, for foreign nations demanded 
gold and silver in payment for the goods they sold us. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 



113 



It was a critical period. Men began to feel that the liberty, 
for which they had fought and had sacrificed so much, would 
be lost. Thomas Paine, a famous writer of the Revolution, 
in the last number of his paper, "The Crisis," issued when 
the war was ended, had said that the times that tried men's 
souls had passed — little realizing that there still remained for 
the American people a 
task fully as great as 
that of winning their in- 
dependence. 

But before we tell 
the story of how nobly 
this was accomplished 
through the wisdom of 
our fathers in framing 
our Constitution, let us 
consider the greatest 
legislative act passed by 
Congress under the Ar- 
ticles of Confederation. 
By the treaty of 1783, 
all that rich and fertile 
country north of the 
Ohio, east of the Mis- 
sissippi, and south of the Great Lakes had been surrendered 
by England to the states. Four of these states claimed a 
portion of this vast territory; Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut basing their claims upon the provisions of their charters, 
New York upon a treaty with the Iroquois Indians, and Vir- 
ginia upon its original charter of 1609 and upon the military 
expedition of George Rogers Clark in the Revolution. It was 
felt, however, that inasmuch as this region was one of the fruits 




The Famous Liberty Bell 

(Hung in the Pennsylvania State House, 
Philadelphia) 



I 



114 THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

of our victory over England, all of the states had an interest in 
it. Finally, the states claiming. ownership by virtue of charter 
rights or otherwise, consented to cede their claims to the gen- 
eral government, and in 1787 the Northwest Territory was 
formed. The act organizing a territorial form of government 
was called the Ordinance of 1787 and has been a model for 
the governments of almost all of the territories created since 
that time. It provided for freedom of rehgion, for civil lib- 
erty, for the encouragement of education, and forbade the 
establishment of slavery within its borders. This wise leg- 
islation is one of the greatest acts in American history. 

We come now to the story of the peaceful struggle through 
which the dangers of this critical period were averted and a 
stronger government was formed. 

It was a contest of ideas and not of arms, and the men who 
waged it successfully are entitled to the respect of all true ■" 
Americans. The weakness of the confederated government 
led to the calling of a convention to remedy its defects. This 
convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, and among its mem- 
bers were many leaders of the people, men who had become fa- 
mous during the Revolution. Among these were Washington, 
Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison. Not all the great men 
of the nation were present. John Adams and Jefferson were 
representing us abroad. John Jay was our Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs, and Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry were | 
not in sympathy with the purpose for which the convention 
was called. Nevertheless, twelve of the states sent to the 
convention their ablest available men. 

Its meetings were held in Philadelphia with Washington 
as the presiding officer, and the members soon decided to 
cast aside the Articles of Confederation and to strike directly 
at the root of the difficulty by drafting a new Constitution. 



THE CONSTITUTION II5 

Difficulties quickly arose among the members of the con- 
vention. There were disagreements about many things, 
but these were gradually smoothed over. Let us see 
how the Constitution as finally agreed upon remedied the 
defective government which existed under the Articles of 
Confederation. First: It provided for three departments of 
government, a legislative or lawmaking division, an execu- 
tive or law enforcing power, and a judicial or law interpreting 
department. 

Second : It gave to the new government the power to 
regulate commerce, to coin money, to levy and collect taxes, 
to wage war, and to provide for the common defense. 

Third: Such powers as were expressly granted it were 
denied to the states, thus making it, and not the states, 
supreme. 

Fourth: It operated upon individuals and not upon states. 
Henceforth a man's first duty was to the nation and not to 
the state in which he lived. This did not mean that the 
states had no authority: within their own borders they were 
supreme, subject only to the laws of the nation. 

Thus by this Constitution, which Gladstone has called 
"the most wonderful document ever struck off at a given 
time by the brain and purpose of man," a new nation was 
created by the inseparable union of sovereign states, each 
giving up for the common good those powers of government 
which affected all. 

The work of the constitutional convention was submitted 
to conventions in each of the states and was in time ratified 
by all. As soon as nine of the states had so ratified it, steps 
were taken to organize the new government. Washington 
was elected President, and John Adams Vice President. We 
have told, in the life of the former, the story of his inaugura- 



ii6 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD 



tion at New York; and in the lives of Jefferson and Hamilton 
we shall see how the difficulties which confronted the new 
government were met. 

Washington selected as members of his cabinet — or advis- 
ory board — wise and 
patriotic men. Be- 
sides Jefferson, who 
was made Secretary 
of State, and Hamil- 
ton, who was made 
Secretary of the 
Treasury, Washing- 
ton chose Edmund 
Randolph of Virginia 
as Attorney-General, 
and Henry Knox, a 
brave revolutionary 
general, as Secretary 
of War. 

A judicial depart- 
ment was also created 
at once, and the man 
chosen as its Chief 
Justice was John Jay, one of New York's most distinguished 
citizens, a man of spotless integrity and of lofty ideals. 

With these men of ability and of patriotic spirit as leaders, 
the government of the United States began its work. Let us 
turn now to the lives of -Jefferson and of Hamilton in order 
that we may see how the young Republic took its place in the 
world, winning the respect of other nations and the confidence 
and affection of its own people. 




Members of the First Cabinet 



THOMAS JEFFERSON • 

In the early days of Virginia there came to that colony, 
from Wales, a family named Jefferson. 

The most famous descendant of this family was the great 
statesman, Thomas Jefferson. He was born at Shadwell, 
near Charlottesville, Virginia, April 13, 1743. His father 
was a prosperous planter, owning an estate of 2000 acres, 
and his mother was a member of the famous Randolph 
family. The little boy was carefully trained by his parents. 
Although books were not plentiful in the colony, they had a 
good library, and Thomas soon learned to enjoy it. Like 
Washington, young Jefferson also was fond of outdoor 
sports. He was a keen hunter and a skillful horseman. 
When nine years of age, he was sent to board with a minister 
in the neighborhood, where he studied Greek, Latin, and 
French. His father guided his education and saw that he 
was also thoroughly taught arithmetic and bookkeeping. 
Thomas was fond of music and became a good violin player. 
For several years, it is said, he used to practice three hours a 
day. His father died when his son was but fourteen, leaving 
to Thomas the family estate at Shadwell. Young Jefferson 
was ready for college at seventeen, and entered William and 
Mary College in Williamsburg in 1760. 

He was a thin, slender boy, somewhat tall for his age, but 
his mind had grown as rapidly as his body, and he soon became 
a leader in his classes. Doubtless his studious nature, his 
habits of industry, and his fondness for good books, all of 

MAK. & DEF. — 8 117 



Il8 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

which had marked him as an unusual child, had as much to 
do with his attaining high rank in college as did the natural 
keenness of intellect which he possessed. One of the profes- 
sors was especially attracted to the brilliant young student 
and took great pride in guiding his work. Thomas found 
time also to enter into the social life of the little college town, 
and found many helpful acquaintances among the leading 
families there. After two years of college life, he began, in 
1763, the study of law. The next year he became of age, and 
to celebrate, that event he planted a beautiful avenue of trees 
near his home. Some of these trees are still standing. 

Among his friends at this time was a young lawyer named 
Patrick Henry. Their holidays were often spent together, 
and they were close companions. In 1765, Henry was elected 
to the House of Burgesses then meeting at Williamsburg, and 
Jefferson heard his friend make before that body the famous 
speech against the Stamp Act. You have read in the life 
of Patrick Henry the story of this wonderful appeal for jus- 
tice. 

Soon after this, Jefferson commenced the practice of law, 
and was successful in his profession. In 1769 he became 
a member of the House of Burgesses, and served almost 
continuously until the Revolution, At this period of his 
life, he found time to look after the affairs of his es- 
tate, and was quite as proud of being a prosperous farmer 
as he was of being a successful professional man. He culti- 
vated his farms carefully, and experimented in raising all the 
trees and shrubs that would stand the Virginia climate. He 
rebuilt the old homestead and called it Monticello. Here in 
the winter of 1772 Jefferson brought his young bride, and 
here, whenever freed from the cares of public life, he retired 
for rest and recreation. The memories of many happy 



EARLY LIFE 



119 



days cluster around the home life of Jefferson at Monti- 
cello. 

In 1775 a convention was held in Richmond to elect 
delegates to the Continental Congress. Jefferson and Henry 
were both members of this convention, and again the former 
had an opportunity to hear his friend plead for the cause of 
freedom in the stir- 
ring speech which 
closed with the words, 
"I know not what 
course others may 
take, but as for me, 
give me liberty or give 
me death." 

It was not long be- 
fore Jefferson was 
called to serve his 
country in a wider 
field. When Washington was made commander in chief of 
the army, his place in the Continental Congress was taken by 
Jefferson, who became at once a prominent and useful mem- 
ber of that body. 

The Americans were beginning to realize that the war upon 
which they had entered, was brought about largely through 
the stubbornness of King George III. Their appeals to him 
had been treated with contempt. He had shown in every 
way possible that he intended to rule the colonies selfishly 
and absolutely. Jefferson expressed the sentiment of the 
American people forcibly when he said, "It is an immense 
misfortune to the whole empire to have such a king at such a 
time. We are told, and everything proves it true, that he is 
the bitterest enemy we have." It is not strange, therefore, 




Monticello," the Home of Jefferson 



I20 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 



that Congress now determined to state to the world the rea- 
sons why the colonies thought -it right to declare themselves 
independent. For this purpose, a committee was appointed 
in June of the year 1776. Although Jefferson was at that 
time one of the youngest members of Congress, his associates 

had such confidence 
in his ability that they 
made him chairman 
of this committee. 
The other members 
were Benjamin 
Franklin of Pennsyl- 
vania, John Adams of 
Massachusetts, Roger 
Sherman of Connect- 
icut, and Robert R. 
Livingston of New 
York. At their re- 
quest, Jefferson pre- 
pared a statement of 
their views regarding 
the harsh measures of 
the English king and 
his Parliament. So it 
was that he had the 
honor of writing the Declaration of Independence. The 
original draft, in his handwriting, was presented to the com- 
mittee, and some slight changes in its wording were made by 
Franklin and Adams. It was then ready for consideration 
by Congress. 

The meetings of that body were held in Philadelphia in 
the Pennsylvania State House, a plain brick building stand- 




Committee to draw up the Declaration of 
Independence 



DECLAI^ATION OF INDEPKNDENCE 



121 



ing on Chestnut Street. Here, during the first days of July, 
the proposed Declaration was warmly discussed. Not all 
the members were sure that the time had come to break the 
ties which bound them to the mother country. Finally, on the 
2nd, a majority was convinced and a resolution was adopted 
briefly declaring the independence of the colonies. For two 
days more, Congress considered the form of Jefferson's 
Declaration. It modified the wording of some of the sentences 
and struck out his bitter denunciation of the king's attitude 
toward the slave trade. When these changes had been made, 

Congress took final action, 
and on the evening cf 
July 4, 1776, this Declara- 
tion of Independence was 
adopted by the unanimous 
consent of twelve of the 
colonies. The weather 
was warm and sultry, and 
through the open windows 
came a swarm of flies. 




Announcing the Declaration of Independence 



122 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

The gentlemen of that day dressed in knee breeches and silk 
stockings, and the flies must have annoyed them as they sat 
through the long debates. Possibly this may have hastened 
the decision of some of the delegates who had hesitated to 
take the final step. 

At once measures were taken to spread the glad news. 
Postriders were dispatched in haste to carry the news to all 
the colonies. The Declaration was read from the pulpits and 
to the army, and was everywhere received with great joy. 
In New York, the people in their enthusiasm pulled down a 
leaden statue of George III, which stood in Bowling Green 
Park, and melted it into bullets for the army. So, amid the 
ringing of bells, the cheers of the people, and the boom of 
cannon, a new nation was born. We celebrate its birthday 
each year on the 4th of July, for that is the day when Congress 
formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. The 
original copy was signed by John Hancock, the president of 
Congress, and by its Secretary. It then had to be engrossed 
on parchment, and when that was done all the members of 
Congress signed the great document. As Hancock wrote 
his name in a fine, large hand, he said, "There, John Bull 
may read my name without spectacles." 

Jefferson declined a reelection to Congress in the fall of 
1776, partly because of the illness of his w^ife and partly 
because his large estate in Virginia needed his personal care. 
He consented, however, to sit again in the Virginia legisla- 
ture, because he was greatly interested in the repeal of some 
laws that he believed unjust. The Virginia colony, more 
than any of the other colonies, followed the customs and 
laws of England. Like the mother country, she had an Es- 
tablished Church which was supported by general taxation. 
Jefferson thought this was wrong, and secured the passage 



IN VIRGINIA 



123 



of a law giving the people the right to worship in churches 
not supported by state or by local taxation. 

At that time, also, by the laws of inheritance, a man's 
property at his death was given to his eldest son. This 
law was unfair to the other members of the family, and, 
largely through Jefferson's efforts, was repealed. 

Throughout an active life he was greatly interested in the 
cause of education. While a member of the Virginia legis- 
lature, he advocated a system of general education by which 



i 


I ■hhIIB ^m 1 ^H^l^-I? II^HI 



Library of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville 

the people could understand and use rightly the blessings of 
the liberty for which they were fighting. Many years later, 
he outlined a plan for common schools, academies, and, to 
crown the system, a State University to be supported for the 
main part by the people. Although he did not succeed in 
getting Virginia to adopt the whole of the scheme, he suc- 
ceeded in inducing the legislature to accept the gift of Central 
College, and so became the founder in 181 8 of the University 
of Virginia, at Charlottesville. 
In 1779, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia, and 



124 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

served for two years while that state was the seat of active 
warfare between the British artd the Continental forces. 

In the autumn of 1782 a great sorrow came to him. His 
wife, whom he loved devotedly, died; and Jefferson was 
heartbroken. He had several times been offered an appoint- 
ment to represent the colonies at the court of France, but had 
refused because of his wife's delicate health. He was now 
willing to go, for he thought that in the change of scene his 
grief might be lessened. So, when appointed for a fourth time 
to a foreign mission, he accepted, and with his daughter Mar- 
tha, whom he wished to have educated abroad, he set sail for 
Europe. There he was to aid Franklin and Adams in making 
treaties of commerce with the European nations. In 1785, 
he was appointed minister to France, succeeding Franklin. 
For four years he lived in Paris in a fine residence. He 
learned to love the French people, and was able, through his 
cordial relations with them, to render his country great serv- 
ice. He used to send to the American schools and colleges 
all the new books of Europe, and he interested himself in the 
arts and sciences in order that he might aid America. In 
1789, while home on a visit, Jefferson was asked by President 
Washington to be Secretary of State of the government just es- 
tablished under the Constitution. Jefferson consented, and for 
the next few years was occupied with the affairs of that office. 

He and Hamilton, who was Secretary of the Treasury, did 
not agree very well, and it required all of the President's 
patience and tact to keep peace in his official family. Ham- 
ilton was an aristocrat by birth and education. He con- 
stantly strove to strengthen the powers of the general gov- 
ernment at the expense of the states. Jefferson, on the other 
hand, although equally well born, was democratic in his 
tastes. He trusted the people and believed in state rights, 



PRESIDENT 125 

He thought that a strong central government was too much 
like a monarchy. Consequently, the measures that Hamilton 
proposed and which we now know were necessary in order 
to establish firmly the credit of the United States at home 
and abroad, were opposed by Jefferson. But his long resi- 
dence in Europe, his liberal education, and his ability as a 
statesman made him a valuable member of Washington's 
cabinet. He served for four years, and then returned to his 
home, Monticello. 

In 1796 he was elected Vice President, and in 1800, 
President of the United States. His election to the latter 
office was the result of an exciting campaign. There was a 
tie between the leading candidates, Jefferson and Burr, so 
the choice was left to the lower house of Congress. Fortu- 
nately for the welfare of the country, Jefferson was chosen, 
and for eight years he made a most efficient President. The 
capital of the nation had been removed to Washington, and 
here he was quietly inaugurated. He disliked all pomp and 
ceremony, and conducted the affairs of his high office with 
the utmost simplicity. He dressed plainly, and allowed the 
people to show him no honor as President that they would 
not show him as a private citizen. 

The most important event of his administration was the 
purchase of Louisiana, a vast territory lying between the 
Mississippi River on the east and the Rocky Mountains on 
the west, and extending from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. 
This great domain belonged to France, and the French Em- 
peror Napoleon had some thought of establishing a great sea- 
port at New Orleans. Such a step Jefferson clearly saw would 
close the Mississippi to American commerce. Napoleon was, 
however, on the verge of a war with England and needed 
money. He offered to sell Louisiana to the United States, 



126 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 



and the offer was at once accepted. The purchase price was 
$15,000,000, a httle less than three cents an acre. Thus "at 
one stroke of the pen," as Jefferson said, the area of the 
United States was more than doubled. 

The new territory was almost an unknown land, so, in 
1804, the President sent Meriwether Lewis and WilHam Clark 



I 




The Lewis and Clark Expedition 

to explore it as well as the Oregon country. Starting from 
the log village of St. Louis, they ascended the Missouri 
River to its source, spent the summer of 1805 in the Rocky 
Mountains, discovered the rivers which bear their names, and 
sailed down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. After 
being away about three years, they returned to civilization 
and reported the results of their journey to Jefferson. This 
daring and romantic expedition gave us a broader concep- 
tion of the vastness of our new possessions, and helped to 
establish our claims, in later days, to the Oregon country. 



PRESIDENT 127 

After he had finished his second term as President, Jeffer- 
son retired to his home in Virginia. For over forty years he 
had served his country almost constantly, and he hoped now 
to pass the declining years of his life in peace and quiet. 
His beautiful estate at Monticello was the center of generous 
hospitality. He had built up the finest private library in 
America, and here, among his books and surrounded by his 
friends, he was enabled to enjoy a well-earned rest. In his 
private life and in his habits he was a fine example of Amer- 
ican manhood. His grandchildren, who Hved with him, 
regarded him with love and veneration. After his retire- 
ment, many of his former political enemies, charmed by his 
hospitality, his great courtesy, and his sense of justice, became 
his warmest friends. For fifteen years longer the "Sage of 
Monticello," as he came to be called, lived, honored by a 
grateful nation. On the 4th of July, 1826, the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the Declaration of Independence, he died, mourned 
by the whole country. In his desk after his death was found 
a paper on which he had written the words he wished engraved 
on his monument. They were simply: 

"Here was Buried 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, 

Author of 

The Declaration of 

American Independence, 

of 

the Statute of Virginia for 

Religious Freedom; 

and 

Father of the 

University of Virginia." 



128 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

For these acts, and not for the high offices he had held with 
such honor, he wished to be remembered. The idea of free- 
dom is the central thought of all three. By the first he aided 
in founding a new nation; by the second he gave to the 
people of Virginia the right to worship as they pleased; and 
by the third he opened the way for the youth of the land to 
obtain the greatest gift of freedom — a good education. 

Free government, free faith, free thought, these were the 
noblest products of Jefferson's mind, and for these he will 
be longest remembered by mankind. 

Topical Outline. — Early life and education of Jefferson. His mar- 
riage and home life at Monticello. Writing the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence; its adoption. Jefferson's public services for Virginia. His 
career as a statesman and as President. Jefferson as a private citizen. 

For Written Work. — I, How did Jefferson's early training fit him for 
a useful public life? II. What influence do you think Patrick Henry's 
speeches had upon his friend Jefferson ? III. Tell the story of the mak- 
ing and signing of the Declaration of Independence. IV. In what ways 
did Jefferson show his interest in education? V. Write a paragraph 
about Jefferson's life abroad. VI. Draw a map showing the Louisiana 
purchase, and on it trace Lewis and Clark's journey. VII. Why was 
the purchase important? VIII. Describe the home life of Jefferson. 

Map Work. — Locate Charlottesville, Williamsburg (p. 92) ; the ap- 
proximate boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase (p. 304). 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Cooke, ''Stories of the Old Dominion," pp. 180-187; 
Hart and Hill, "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 172-175. 

Biography. — Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," 
pp. 117-135; Merwin, "Thomas Jefferson." 

Fiction. — Butterworth, "In the Days of Jefferson"; Johnston, 
"Lewis Rand"; Churchill, "The Crossing." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



Washington is known in American history as the Father 
of his Country, and Alexander Hamilton may, with equal 
truth, be called the savior of its credit, for in his fertile brain 
originated the policies 
which placed the finances 
of the new nation upon a 
sound basis. 

Hamilton's birthplace 
was on the island of Nevis, 
one of the West Indies. 
The date of his birth is 
commonly given as Janu- 
ary II, 1757, although 
writers of history are not 
agreed upon this point. 
From his father, a young 
Scotch merchant of the 
island, he inherited studi- 
ous habits and an unusual 
capacity for hard work; 
while from his mother, 
an attractive and high- 
spirited French woman, came a vigorous and brilliant mind. 
By the death of his parents, Hamilton was, at an early age, 
left to the care of relatives. He was fortunate in having as 
his tutor and friend a Presbyterian minister named Hugh 

129 




Alexander Hamilton 



130 ALEXANDER HAMILTON 

Knox. This gifted man took great pride in guiding the 
alert mind of the boy. Hamikon had already learned from 
his mother to speak French readily, and with his tutor he 
studied Latin and the sciences, and read all the books he 
could get. The orphan boy's proud spirit chafed at th( 
thought of being dependent upon others for support, and we 
next find him in the counting house of Mr. Nicholas Cruger, 
a wealthy merchant of one of the neighboring islands. Here 
he appHed himself with such energy and intelligence to his 
duties, that it was not long before Mr. Cruger, when absent 
from the island, trusted him with complete control of the 
business. But the boy was not content with this life. He 
loved books passionately and was determined, at all costs, 
to get an education. Finally, friends yielded to his pleadings 
and arranged to send him to school in the American colonies. 

The dearest desires of Hamilton's boyhood were realized 
when he entered a school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, to 
fit himself for college. He had intended to enter Princeton, 
but its rules would not permit him to advance as rapidly as 
he wished, so in the latter part of the year 1773 he went 
instead to Kings College in the city of New York. 

The spirit of resistance to the unjust demands of the mother 
country had already spread through the colonies. In New 
York, as elsewhere, the Patriots had formed military com- 
panies which they called Sons of Liberty. Public meetings 
were held in the parks, and liberty poles erected. One of 
these poles in New York had been cut down in 1770 by the 
British soldiers on guard in the city, and this led to a fight 
between the soldiers and the people. It has been called the 
battle of Golden Hill, but it was hardly a battle, since no one] 
was killed and the excitement soon died down. 

But the spirit of the colonists was again aroused when, u 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION I3I 

1774, England tried to force them to buy taxed tea. In 
Boston, a party of Patriots disguised as Indians emptied the 
tea into the harbor; and in New York the captain of the 
British ship Nancy was not allowed to land his cargo, but he 
and his ship were sent back to England. 

While these stirring events were happening in the city, 
Hamilton was busily engaged trying to do five years of col- 
lege work in two. But a young man of his impetuous nature 
could not long remain neutral. He began to study the causes 
of the trouble between England and her American colonies. 
The more he read and heard about taxation without rep- 
resentation, and the other unjust laws England was trying 
to force the colonies to accept, the more certain he became 
that the Americans were justified in their resistance. He 
began to write letters to the papers, and pamphlets in which 
he clearly and forcefully defended the attitude of the colonies. 
These essays were so remarkable that people could scarcely 
believe they were written by a mere boy of eighteen. On one 
occasion, when a great mass meeting was held in the " Fields," 
now the City Hall Park, to arouse interest in the American 
cause, Hamilton was present. The speakers seemed to be 
afraid to express their feelings boldly, and there was little 
enthusiasm until the young college student pushed his way 
to the front and, mounting the platform, gave an eloquent and 
patriotic speech in behalf of liberty. From this time on, 
Hamilton was firmly committed to the cause of freedom. 

He organized among the college students a military com- 
pany called the "Hearts of Oak." The members of the 
company wore green uniforms, and on each leathern cap was 
inscribed the motto, "Freedom or Death." 

We may be sure that this patriotic activity on the part of 
the boys was not at all pleasing to Dr. Cooper, the President 



132 



>?. 



EXANDER HAMILTON 



of Kings College, who was strongly English in his sympa- 
thies. 

It was not long before the "Hearts of Oak" had an oppor- 
tunity to do something more than to drill and to parade. 
They were ordered to remove some cannon that were 
placed at the Battery. While they were doing this, a boat- 
load of soldiers landed from the Brit- 
ish warship Asia, which was anchored 
in the harbor. A fight between them 
and the militia followed, and immedi- 
ately the Asia fired upon the Patriots. 

As a result of this attack, the whole 




V- 
city was aroused. The 
Sons of Liberty marched 
through the streets, and 
burned in efifigy some of the 
loyalists, or Tories, as they 
were called. 

By nighttime, the crowd, having increased to a mob, sud- 
denly determined to capture Dr. Cooper, who was one of the 
most hated among the loyalists. Marching to the college 



Hamilton speaks to the Mob 



THE REVOLUTION I33 

buildings, they were about to force an entrance when Hamil- 
ton, appearing on the steps above them, spoke to the angry 
men until Dr. Cooper had escaped over a back fence and was 
safely on his way to the Asia. 

A company of artillery was now formed in New York city, 
and Hamilton, then only nineteen years of age, was given its 
command. With eager enthusiasm he gathered recruits and 
spent all his money on equipping his company. He soon had 
a body of men so well trained and disciplined that it attracted 
the attention of General Greene, and was immediately put 
at work. In the battle of Brooklyn Heights and at White 
Plains, Hamilton's artillery took part. The company also 
aided in protecting Washington's retreat through New Jersey, 
and did gallant service at Trenton and at Princeton. 

During these dark days Washington came to know and 
trust the young artillery captain so well that he gave him an 
appointment as aid-de-camp on his staff. Hamilton now 
became Washington's private secretary. 

In his new office, he had to carry messages to the Continen- 
tal Congress, attend to the exchange of prisoners, and prepare 
Washington's written orders to the army. A warm friend- 
ship sprang up at this time between Hamilton and Lafayette. 
Both spoke French readily, and they passed many hours 
together during the dreary winter at Valley Forge. Hamilton 
was already known among the men of the army as the 
"little lion," but he must have been prouder of the affec- 
tionate way in which Washington often spoke of him as "my 
boy." On account of some slight misunderstanding, in 
which Hamilton was at fault, he resigned as Washington's 
secretary. But he did not retire from the army, for at York- 
town he commanded a corps of infantry and took part in the 
movements that led to Cornwallis's surrender there. In 

MAK. & DEF. — 9 



134 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



1780 Hamilton had married Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter 
of General Philip Schuyler, and when the war ended, he 
went to Albany, New York, with his family, and studied law. 
He was soon admitted to the bar, and commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. 

There was plenty for a young lawyer to do. Times were 
bad after the war, the country was 
heavily in debt, many had lost 

their property, and business had WMW^B ^'^^/Hf^i^'yj f 

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February 17. 1776. Bi 



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Continental Currency 

to be built up anew. To meet war expenses. Congress had 
issued paper money which was simply the government's prom- |[ 
ise to pay and was good only so long as the government's 
credit was good. This paper money became worth less and 
less until it was almost valueless. The phrase " not worth a 
Continental" originated then and showed what the people 
thought of the Continental currency. About the only " hare 
money," as gold and silver were called, in the country werej 
foreign coins, and these were so worn and mutilated that theii 
value was uncertain. The different states also issued paper"^ 
money which was good only in the state in which it was ' 
issued. In fact, there were almost as many different kinds 



THE CONSTITUTION 135 

of money as there were different states. Hut the chief cause 
of the trouble was, as many wise men clearly saw, that the 
states were too loosely banded together. 

In the convention which met in Philadelphia in 1787, 
Hamilton was a delegate from New York and took an 
active part in the debates. At last, after a long sum- 
mer's work, a Constitution providing for a stronger cen- 
tral government was drafted, and the labors of the con- 
vention were ended. It now became necessary to get 
the states to adopt the Constitution. Many people feared 
the proposed new form of government more than they did 
the weaknesses of the old. Nowhere was the opposition 
stronger than in New York. Hamilton worked night and day 
to win over this opposition. He made speeches and wrote 
letters to the papers explaining the different features of the 
Constitution. These letters, together with a few written by 
Madison and John Jay, are called the "Federalist" papers 
and are among the finest essays on the science of government 
ever written. At last the people were convinced, largely 
through Hamilton's able efforts, and New York became a 
member of the Union. 

So the United States was formed, and the first President 
chosen was George Washington ■ — the man whom the whole 
nation loved and honored. The capital of the new nation 
was located temporarily in the city of New York, and here 
for the first time the new Congress met. Washington had 
already been notified by special messengers of his election 
and had started from Mount Vernon. His journey to New 
York was marked by many expressions of respect. In Phila- 
delphia the governor and state officials met him at the state 
line and escorted him into the city; at Trenton, girls strewed 
flowers in the path before him; and at Elizabethtown, where 



136 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



he embarked, thirteen master pilots, dressed to represent the 
states, rowed him across to New York. The 30th of April, 
1789, was the greatest day the old city had yet known. The 
buildings were decorated in honor of the coming of the 
nation's hero; the streets were filled with people in holi- 



I 




Washington taking the Oath of Office as President 

day attire. In the forenoon, services were held in all the 
churches, and prayers were offered for the success of the new 
government. At noon, on the steps of Federal Hall, at the 
corner of Wall and Nassau Streets, in the presence of Con- 
gress and a vast crowd of citizens, Washington took an oath 
to "faithfully execute the office of the President of the 
United States" and to defend the Constitution. 



SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 137 

So amid the cheers and the prayers of the people the new 
government started. The most necessary thing to do now 
was to estabhsh its good name and credit, at home and 
abroad. To accomphsh this, Washington chose Alexander 
Hamilton as his first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton 
had no easy task before him. The country was heavily in 
debt, and there was no money in the Treasury. During the 
war, we had borrowed large sums of gold from France and 
Holland. Many of the Revolutionary soldiers were still 
unpaid, and we owed, also, for supplies furnished the army. 
These were honest debts, and must be paid if the new govern- 
ment expected to win the confidence of the world. 

Hamilton began his duties with the same energy and the 
same keen intelligence that he had always shown in public 
affairs. He believed that the foreign and domestic debt 
should be paid in full, and that the money which the states 
had advanced during the Revolution should be returned to 
them. In order to do this, he succeeded in having Congress 
place a tariff on goods imported into the United States, and a 
tax on alcoholic liquors. These laws produced enough rev- 
enue to meet the expenses of the government and to pay in 
time our national debt. 

He also established a banking system closely associated 
with the government. Now that the power to coin money 
had been taken from the states and given to the federal 
government. Congress, at Jefferson's suggestion, created a 
decimal system of currency, and Hamilton established a 
United States Mint where gold and silver and copper bullion 
could be coined into money. 

The great orator, Daniel Webster, eloquently said of Ham- 
ilton's great public service as Secretary of the Treasury, that 
" He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant 



138 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



streams of revenue burst forth. He touched the dead corpse 
of public credit, and it sprang "upon its feet." 

In 1795, Hamilton retired from office and resumed the 
practice of law in the city of New York. He became the 
foremost lawyer in the city, and was the leading man of the 
Federalist party in the state, if not in the nation. His activ- 
ity in his profession and in politics brought him into conflict 




Hamilton mortally wounded by Burr 

with the leaders of the opposite political party, the Repub- M 
licans. One of the men whose enmity he aroused was Aaron 
Burr. Burr was prominent in public life, and held the office 
of Vice President in Jefferson's administration. He was an 
able man, but without a high sense of honor, so that people 
began to distrust him. In 1804, he was a candidate for the 
governorship of New York. Hamilton believed him to be 
unworthy of that high office, and worked against him so 
effectually that he was defeated. Smarting under this defeat, 
he determined to have revenge upon Hamilton, who he 



DUEL WITH BURR I39 

thought was responsible for it. So he challenged Hamilton 
to a duel. The custom of dueling still existed to some extent, 
and Hamilton accepted, although he did not feel that such a 
method of settling quarrels was right. Hamilton could have 
refused to enter into this duel with Burr, but a false sense of 
honor and a fear that he would be regarded as a coward led 
him to accept the challenge. 

They met at Weehawken, just across the river from New 
York, on the morning of July ii, 1804. Hamilton did not 
fire at his rival, but was mortally wounded at Burr's first shot. 
He died the next day, and a whole nation mourned the loss 
of its most brilliant statesman. Burr fled from the country, 
and a short time later was concerned in a treasonable plot 
against the United States. He was tried, acquitted, and lived 
to an old age, but he had forever lost the respect and con- 
fidence of his countrymen. 

Topical Outline. — Hamilton's early life in the West Indies. School 
and college days in New York. Becomes interested in the American 
cause. Services in the army. Hamilton as a statesman and financier. 
Weaknesses of the confederation. His share in the adoption of a Con- 
stitution. His work in establishing the credit of the new nation. The 
duel between Hamilton and Burr. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a brief sketch of the early life of Ham- 
ilton, n. Describe the meeting in the "Fields." HI. What were 
Hamilton's most important services during the Revolution? IV. What 
were the weaknesses of the government under the Continental Congress, 
and how were they remedied? V. Who were the authors of the 
Federalist papers? VI. Tell the story of Washington's election and 
inauguration. VII. Are credit and a reputation for honesty any less nec- 
essary to a nation than to a business man? VIII. What was Hamil- 
ton's policy? IX. What were the traits of Hamilton's character you 
most admire? X. Was Hamihon or Jefferson the greater statesman? 
Give reasons for your answer. 



140 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



Collateral Reading 

History. — Blaisdell and Ball, "Hero Stories from American His- 
tory," pp. 138-155- 

Biography. ^Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," 
pp. 49-63; Burton, "Four American Patriots," pp. 71-130 ; Sparks, 
"The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 151-180. 

Fiction. — ktherion, "The Conqueror"; Ogden, "Loyal Little Red 
Coat." 




Hamilton's Tomb, New York City 



DANIEL BOONE AND WESTERN 
SETTLEMENTS 

The Allegheny Mountains were a barrier to settlements 
during the colonial days, so we find the Europeans scattered 
along the coast from Maine to Florida. But into the moun- 
tain regions of western Virginia and the Carolinas a hardy 
Scotch-Irish people had crept, and by the middle of the 
eighteenth century these people had become interested in the 
lands to the west. Occasionally, hunters and trappers told 
of the rich country, and some daring spirit started out to 
explore it. 

One of the most interesting of these pioneer men of the 
west was Daniel Boone. He was born in Pennsylvania in 
1734, but while he was still a boy his parents moved to the 
headwaters of the Yadkin River in North Carolina. In both 
states his home was in the frontier settlements and he had 
little opportunity for schooling. The life was so hard that 
boys had to go to work early, and few of them had time or 
opportunity to learn more than to read and write. When 
they grew older they learned the elements of surveying, for 
nearly every man at some time was called upon to use this 
knowledge. 

Daniel Boone was an active boy and loved the woods. He 
soon came to know the haunts of the best game, and was a sure 
marksman. The bold, wild freedom of life in the wilderness 
tended to make these men very independent. As a settle- 
ment grew in size, the people were eager to push back into 
the new and unsettled regions. 

141 



142 



DANIEL BOONE 



Boone married at twenty, and, going some distance from 
his father's home, built his log^ house and cleared the land. 
He soon realized that the quiet life of a farmer did not 
satisfy him. He loved hunting and trapping much better. 

Every trip into the 
mountains made him 
wish to keep on going 
instead of returning 
home. Some of these 
were long trips, for in 
the valley of Boone's 
creek (a branch of 
the Watauga River in 
eastern Tennessee) a 
birch tree is still 
standing that bears 
the inscription: "D. 
Boone cilled a bar in 
this tree in the year 
1760." This is prob- 
ably a fair example of 
his spelling. 

In May, 1769, with 
four other men, 
Boone started on his 
first exploring trip to 
Kentucky. This was known by the Indians as " No-Man's 
Land," for no one tribe of Indians claimed it, but it was 
the hunting range of several bands of both northern and 
southern tribes. 

For five weeks these men toiled through the mountains. 
They had to blaze a trail, cut down trees and brush, and ford 




Danier Boone, the Hunter 



WESTERN SETTLEMENTS 1 43 

streams, besides shooting game necessary for food. Early 
in June they reached the last slope on the Kentucky side of 
the mountains, and found a beautiful and fertile land full of 
game. The buffalo, bison, deer, bear, and elk, besides many 
smaller animals, were abundant. They selected a good place 
and built a camp; then they made exploring trips round 
about. 

In December, while Boone and another man were on one 
of these expeditions, they were captured by the Indians. For 
a week they were carefully guarded, but one night after a 
great feast, Boone watched his chance, and, when the Indians 
were asleep, he and his friend escaped. When they reached 
their camp their three friends were not there, and they never 
knew what became of them. 

About this time, Daniel Boone's brother came from home. 
He was not a very good hunter, so after a few weeks he returned 
to the settlements for food supplies and ammunition. During 
his three months' absence, Daniel Boone remained at the 
camp all alone, for his friend Stewart had already been killed. 

The brother returned early in the summer with several 
hunters. Boone says that they brought with them a copy of 
" Gulliver's Travels," and that they greatly enjoyed reading 
aloud to each other after their day's tramping was over. 
There are many streams and places in Kentucky to-day which 
were named by these men from characters in this book. 
After two years Boone knew the land well enough to bring 
settlers out, so in the spring of 1771 he returned to his home 
in North Carolina. 

He is described as being a tall, slender, muscular man, 
with very keen eyes. He had a remarkable self-control and 
patience, and he apparently knew neither fear nor weariness. 
He understood men, and they naturally believed in him. 



144 



DANIEL BOONE 



Hence he was a leader among men, for they knew his judg- 
ment was sound and his dealings fair. 

In 1773 he sold his farm in North CaroHna and took his 
wife and children over the mountains into Kentucky. With 
them went five other families and forty men. The men 
walked, some going ahead to clear the way, others remaining 



SCALE OF MILES 



100 




Early Western Settlements 



behind with rifles loaded for protection. The women and 
small children rode on horseback, while the larger children 
drove the cows. They carried little with them save food, 
cooking utensils, necessary clothing, and blankets. The road 
they cut led through the Cumberland Gap, a narrow break 
in the Allegheny Mountains. 



WESTERN SETTLEMENTS 1 45 

When they finally reached Kentucky, they were obliged 
not only to build their houses, but to make their furniture 
and provide for defense against Indian attacks. They built 
log cabins with huge outside chimneys, often made of the 
cobblestones picked up in the fields. They had no stoves, 
but the large fireplaces furnished warmth as well as a place 
for cooking. Chairs and tables were made from slabs split 
from logs. They had no iron nails nor hinges, but wooden 
pegs and strips of leather were good substitutes. 

Boone built on the Kentucky River, within about thirty 
miles of the present site of Lexington, a remarkable fort 
called Boonesborough (or Boonesboro). This was an in- 
closure 250 feet long and 125 feet wide. At each corner 
was a two-story blockhouse, and along the sides were several 
log cabins. The gaps between the blockhouses and cabins 
were filled with heavy timbers thrust into the ground close 
together and bound tightly toward the top, thus completing 
the inclosure. There were no openings in the outside walls 
on the ground floor of the cabins and blockhouses, but above 
were loop-holes for rifles to stick through. The trees were 
cut down for a space of forty or fifty feet around the in- 
closure. In case of a threatened attack on their settlement, 
the people drove their cows and horses within the walled in- 
closure, and took shelter in the cabins. 

Life in the wilderness was interesting but very serious. 
The Indians did not object to traders and casual visitors, but 
they disliked to have the white people settle on their hunting 
grounds. So they used all sorts of methods to break up the 
settlements. They burned or destroyed the crops, and killed 
the cows and horses. They would also imitate the call of 
animals, like the hooting of an owl or the gobble of the wild 
turkey, in order to lure the hunter farther into the woods 



146 



DANIEL BOONE 



and then shoot him. The settlers learned to be always on 
their guard. 

One day Boone's daughter and two other girls were cap- 
tured by the Indians and carried off. Of course the girls were 
badly frightened, but they were careful to break twigs on 
the trees and bushes as they went along. The Indians 
noticed this and forbade their doing it any more. Then the 
girls slyly tore off little pieces of their dresses and dropped 
them along the way. This was not noticed by the Indians 
but served to guide Daniel Boone and seven other men a few 




The Indians initiating Boone into their Tribe 

hours later when they started out to find the girls. The 
rescuing party did not overtake them till the second morn- 
ing, while the Indians and their captives were having break- 
fast. As soon as the Indians saw the white men they fled, 
leaving the girls unharmed. 



WESTERN SETTLEMENTS I47 

During the Revolutionary War the Indians in that part of 
the country aided the English. Of course Boone and the 
other settlers were Patriots. One day in 1778 Boone and 
twenty-nine other men were captured and taken to the English 
headquarters at Detroit. The English offered $500 for Boone, 
but the Indians had taken such a fancy to him that they 
refused the offer and carried him back to southern Ilhnois. 
They adopted him into their tribe, and to make him look hke 
an Indian they pulled out his long hair, leaving a little tuft on 
top, which they decorated with feathers. They made him bathe 
in a stream to wash out the white blood, and then they painted 
him with fancy colors to suit their tribe. Boone was careful 
to do nothing to anger them. Although he submitted to 
this performance with good nature, he was constantly on the 
alert to find a chance to escape. 

The Indians did not know that he understood their lan- 
guage, so they talked over their plans in his presence. After 
he had been with them two months, he heard them planning 
to attack Boonesborough. He then determined to escape to 
protect it and save his settlement and family. A morning 
or so later, just before sunrise, he slipped away. He fled 
straight through the woods toward home, and in four days he 
had traveled 160 miles. He said he took but one meal on 
the way. He immediately made the fort ready for attack, 
but the Indians did not come until some weeks later. Then 
three or four hundred besieged the fort for nine days, but 
linally gave it up and left. This was the last serious attack 
on the settlement. 

Many old friends and neighbors of the pioneers from 
Virginia and North Carolina came and made their homes in 
Kentucky. Their sons and daughters married, and soon 
the central part of the state was well filled with prosper- 



148 



DANIEL BOONE 



1 



ous farmers. They organized and developed a good local 
government, and in 1792 Kentucky was admitted as a 
state. 

Topical Outline. — Boyhood. Hard life on the frontier. First trip 
of two years to Kentucky. Settlement made. Boonesborough. Re- 
lations with the Indians. 

For Written Work. — I. Imagine you are Boone's daughter. Write 
your experiences as a captive. II. Take the side of the Indian and 
write your objections to the coming of the white men. III. Describe 
the fort at Boonesborough. 

Map Work. — Locate North Carolina, Kentucky, Cumberland Gap, 
Boonesborough (Boonesboro), the Kentucky River, Lexington. 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — 'Thwaites, "Daniel Boone"; Lindslay, "Daniel 
Boone"; Perry and Beebe, ''Four American Pioneers," pp. 11-68; 
Hart and Hill, "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 102-116; 
McMurray, " Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley." 

Fiction. — Bogart, "A Border Boy." 




c ' ». 



A Blockhouse 



THE WAR OF 1812 

For many years after the close of the American Revolu- 
tion, England and France were at war. The United States 
remained neutral, and at first enjoyed a profitable trade with 
both countries. After a while, England declared a blockade 
of French ports and France blockaded English ports. But 
the merchants of the United States claimed that, as neutrals, 
they had a right to trade with both countries. In one year 
England seized 200 American ships on their way to French 
ports, and France seized as many bound for England. The 
people of the United States resented the conduct of England 
more than that of France because there were other reasons 
for bitterness. 

Many English sailors, tired of war, deserted from the 
navy and found work on American merchant vessels. The 
English, claiming the right to look for deserters, often stopped 
and searched American ships. Many English sailors were 
found and compelled to return to service. More often, how- 
ever, the searching officers could not tell an Englishman 
from an American, and took some born in America and others 
who had become naturalized citizens of the United States. 
In one year 1000 American sailors were in this way forced 
into the English navy. This became intolerable. One Amer- 
ican ship not only refused to allow a search but fought the 
English ship that demanded the right. 

The English occupied until 1796 the forts on the Amer- 
ican side of the Great Lakes which they had agreed to aban- 

MAK. & DEF. — 10 149 



^5o 



WAR OF l8l2 



don at the close of the Revolutionary War. The settlers on 
the frontier also accused the {English of stirring up the In- 
dians against them. These troubles, and the impressment 
of sailors, continued for many years. Finally, in 1812, the 
United States, seeing that such difficulties and insults could 




Impressment of American Sailors by the English 



be settled in no other way, declared war against England. 
This war was fought along the Canadian border, along the 
Atlantic coast, and on the high seas. 

The first plan outlined by the government was an invasion 
of Canada from several points. Hull with an army was to 
cross at Detroit and march east. Van Rensselaer was to 
cross the Niagara River and with Hull move toward Mon- 
treal. Dearborn was to enter Canada through the Cham- 



WAR OF l8l2 



151 




plain valley, and the three com- 
bined armies would then take 
Montreal and Quebec. 

This plan failed. Hull sur- 
rendered at Detroit. Van Rens- 
selaer was defeated while at- 
tacking Queenstown. Dearborn did not even get across the 
boundary of Canada. But General William Henry Harri- 
son, Commander of the Army of the West, saved the Ohio 
country by many victories over Canadians and Indians. 

The war, however, was principally a naval war. When it 
began, England had available 1336 warships — 300 of the 
first class. The United States had thirteen warships, with 
only three of the first class. The English soldiers and marines 
were veterans, the Americans were volunteers. England was 
called "The Queen of the Northern Seas," because for two 
hundred years she had stood without an equal. 



^ 



152 oliver hazard perry 

Naval Heroes of the War of 181 2 — Oliver Hazard 
Perry and Battle of Lake Erie 

An English fleet was scattered along the Great Lakes to 
prevent the invasion of Canada. The Americans saw the 
need of getting boats on these lakes to break the power of the 
English. Early in 1813, the government ordered Oliver 
Hazard Perry to go to Lake Erie, build a fleet, and drive out 
the English. It looked like a big order for a young man of 
twenty-seven, but he did it. 

Ohver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingston, R. L, 
August 23, 1785. His father was a naval officer of some 
prominence, and his mother was a woman of great ability and 
excellent character. It is said that she fitted her son to com- 
mand others by teaching him to obey. She directed the 
boy's reading with great care. He went to the best private 
schools, where he excelled in mathematics and history. Later 
he was a private pupil of the famous Frenchman, Count 
Rochambeau. 

He grew up with little love for the English. His father 
had served in the Revolution, had been taken prisoner, and 
had spent three months on the old Jersey prison ship. Young 
Oliver listened with keen interest to his father's experiences, 
and with flashing eye and clenched fist declared that he 
would some time punish the English. 

At the age of fourteen, he entered the navy as a midship- 
man, and two years later served in the war against the pirates 
of the Barbary States. Several times he was on board ships 
that were stopped and searched. This not only made him 
wish to fight but made him familiar with methods of Englisl 
warfare. 

In 1 811, Perry was put in command of the Newport flotilla! 



WAR OF l8l2 ' 153 

of gunboats waiting for war. For years he had given careful 
study to the best authorities on gunnery and naval tactics. 
While waiting for orders, he trained his crews, giving per- 
sonal attention to all details. He knew all about the con- 
struction of ships as well as the arms and ammunition used 
on board. He often divided his fleet into squadrons and 
practiced sham battles. In these he applied and tested his 
book knowledge and worked out experiments for new methods 
of attack and defense. 

When it was decided to build a fleet on Lake Erie he 
offered his services. He received his orders on February 17, 
1 8 13, and within twenty- four hours he had sent off fifty men. 
A few days later he started with his young brother Alexander 
and a hundred men. They had to drive in sleighs from 
Rhode Island to Lake Erie, where they arrived March 27. 
Ship carpenters wxre sent from Philadelphia, and a month 
passed before they arrived at the lake. Meanwhile Perry 
and his men had been cutting down trees and getting the 
timbers ready. All of this work of shipbuilding was very 
difficult because in that wilderness they had so few conven- 
iences. They often had to make their own tools or wait 
weeks to send east for them. 

By early summer nine vessels were built, only two of 
which could be called men-of-war. But all of them could 
carry a few guns. As war ships in those days were sailing 
vessels, the method of attack was to destroy the masts and 
rigging of the enemy's fleet. This was most easily done by 
firing shot, made of scraps of iron sewed up in leather bags. 
Bits of bolts, bars, nails, and, in fact, any pieces of old iron 
were collected and made up into these peculiar cartridges. 

The English fleet consisted of six boats under the com- 
mand of Captain Barclay, who had served with Nelson at 



154 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 

Trafalgar. The Americans had nine boats, but their com- 
mander was Httle more thaa a boy. Although we must 
acknowledge that the American force was stronger, it had 
greater obstacles to overcome. 

Perry collected his boats at Put-in-Bay, and in the evening 
of September 9 he called his officers together and gave them 
written orders. He showed them his battle flag, a blue square 
with "Don't Give up the Ship" ^ in white letters, and said 
to them, "When this flag shall be hoisted at the main yard 
of the Lawrence, it shall be your signal for going into action." 

At daylight the next morning, the English squadron was 
sighted. Perry started toward them, his flagship, the Law- 
rence, in the lead. The English boats lined up, with the 
Detroit a little ahead. The battle began about noon. For 
two hours it was principally a duel between the Lawrence 
and the Detroit. By two o'clock the rigging of the Lawrence 
was all shot away, her sails were cut to shreds, her spars 
were splintered and guns dismounted. Only one mast 
remained, and from it streamed the national flag and the blue 
banner. Most men would have given up and struck their 
flag, but not so with Perry. 

His next best ship, the Niagara, was still unhurt. He took 
his flags, lowered a boat, and, with his brother and a few 
sailors, made for her. Captain Barclay, noting this, turned 
big and little guns on the small boat to prevent Perry from 
reaching the Niagara. Bullets whizzed about them; grape- 
shot struck the water, spattering the men until they were 
drenched; oars were shivered with cannonballs; but not a 
man was hurt. In fifteen minutes Perry was on the Niagara. 

1 The dying words of Captain Lawrence in the battle between the Chesa- 
peake and the Shannon. This flag is to-day in the Naval Academy at Annap- 
olis. 



WAR OF l8l2 



155 




Perry leaving his Flagship at the Battle of Lake Erie 



He hoisted his flags and dashed through the enemy's line, 
and at three o'clock Captain Barclay struck his colors. Four 
English boats surrendered; two tried to escape, but were 
chased and brought back. The first and the second in com- 
mand on the English vessels were killed or wounded, a proof 
of their desperate fighting. 

This was the first time in England's history that she lost 
an entire squadron in a naval battle. This victory on Lake 
Erie gave the Americans command of the Great Lakes. 
But quite as important was the confidence in our navy, 
inspired by this success. Before the smoke had cleared 
away Perry wrote his famous message to General Harrison, 
v/ho was in command of the army in Ohio near the lake — 
"We have met the enemy and they are ours: two ships, two 
brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. 

" Yours with great respect and esteem, 

"Oliver Hazard Perry." 



156 THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

In recognition of his work Congress made him captain 
and presented him with a medal struck in honor of this 
victory. Captain Perry served on the lakes until the next 
spring, when he was transferred to the defense of the Atlantic 
coast. In 1 81 5 he commanded one of the ships of Decatur's 
squadron in the Mediterranean Sea. 

In June, 181 9, he was sent against the West Indian priva- 
teers. While on this voyage he was stricken with yellow 
fever, and died on his thirty-fourth birthday, August 23, 1819. 

Topical Outline. — Causes of the War of 1812: (a) England inter- 
fering with trade; (b) impressing American seamen. War declared. 
Comparative strength of two nations. Fleet on the lakes. Perry built 
an American fleet. Battle of Lake Erie. Gained control of the lakes 
by capturing the English fleet. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph to show the value to the 
Americans of controlling the lakes. II. Imagine you were the young 
brother, Alexander. Give your experiences during the battle. 

Map Work. — Locate Lake Erie and Put-In-Bay. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Beebe, "Four American Naval Heroes," pp. 75-130; 
Roosevelt, "Naval War of 1812," pp. 375-398. 

Poetry. — Key, "Star Spangled Banner"; Holmes, "Old Ironsides"; 
Stevenson, " Poems of American History." 

Fiction. — Barnes, "The Hero of Lake Erie"; Otis, "With Perry 
on Lake Erie." 

Macdonough and the Battle of Lake Champlain 

Another important battle on the Canadian frontier was 
fought on Lake Champlain in September, 1814. The hero 
of this battle was a young man of twenty-eight, Macdonough 
by name. The Champlain valley had been the scene of 
many military engagements in the earlier wars. In the 



WAR OF l8l2 



157 



French and Indian War both armies moved up and down that 
valley. In the Revolution, Burgoyne invaded the country 
by that route. Now, in the summer of 1814, an English 
army 11,000 strong under General Provost marched into the 
state along the west side of Lake Champlain. He was 
accompanied by an English fleet which had entered the 
lake by the Sorel or Richeheu River. The United States 
determined to destroy this fleet, .knowing that Provost 
would not dare to advance far without its aid. 

Thomas Macdonough, the hero of Champlain, was born 
in New Castle, Delaware, Decem- 
ber 23, 1783. He entered the navy 
as a midshipman at sixteen and soon 
served with the Mediterranean fleet 
in the war with Tripoli. He was 
on board the Philadelphia when it 
was captured, but succeeded in es- 
caping. He then served on the En- 
terprise under the great Commodore 
Decatur. 

Young Macdonough was bright 
and quick-witted, picking up valu- 
able knowledge with every experi- 
ence. His good nature, his willingness to work, and his 
promptness to obey made him a great favorite with both of- 
ficers and men. He was enthusiastic but never rash. He 
habitually made careful preparations before undertaking any 
piece of work. It was such characteristics that made him 
the choice for the important command on Lake Champlain. 

The English entered New York state in August. An 
American army of 2000 held Plattsburg, on a bay at the 
mouth of the Saranac River. Macdonough got together a 




Thomas Macdonough 



158 THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

small squadron and took up a position just at the entrance 
to the bay. The English fleet was stronger than the Ameri- 
can, but was less fortunate in position during the battle, be- 
cause of the prevailing winds on the lake. 

At sunrise on September 11, the enemy came in sight. Mac- 
donough at once called his officers about him, and, kneehng 
upon the quarter-deck, they prayed for wisdom and guidance 
in the work before them. Every man then went to his 
place and awaited orders. The English boats advanced fear- 
lessly, while the Americans quietly watched them from their 
advantageous position at anchor. Suddenly, when the two 
fleets were about four hundred yards apart, and but a shot 
or two had been exchanged, a pet gamecock on Macdonough's 
flagship flew upon a cannon, clapped his wings and crowed 
lustily. The Americans cheered and went into the fight re- 
garding this as a favorable omen. 

The Saratoga and the English boat, Confiance, took the 
lead, but shortly every boat in each fleet was firing away the 
best it could. The Saratoga was so anchored that she could 
swing around, thus increasing the effectiveness of her guns. 
The English boats could not do this, but the Confiance had a 
furnace for heating red hot the shot to be fired. The injury 
from this hot shot was much lessened because the guns from 
which it was fired became loosened and their muzzles were 
so elevated that they often shot over the American boats, 
and the balls dropped hissing into the water. 

The captain of the Confiance was killed early in the engage- 
ment. Macdonough worked like a common sailor, firing 
a big gun, besides keeping perfect command of his fleet and 
rioting every act of the enemy. The battle lasted about two 
hours, and four of the English ships were in almost a sinking 
condition before the Confiance struck her flag. It was a 



WAR OF t8i2 



159 



most stubbornly fought battle. The destruction on both 
sides was awful. The hull of the Conjlance had 105 shot- 
holes, while the Saratoga was injured beyond repair. 

Finally, every English flag was pulled down, and the Amer- 
icans took possession of the Confiance. Then the English 
officers came to offer their swords to Macdonoueh, who 




At Plattsburg, September ii, 1814 

courteously replied: "Gentlemen, your gallant conduct 
makes you worthy to wear your weapons. Return them to 
their scabbards." 

The result of this victory was immediately felt. The Eng- 
lish army that was moving on Plattsburg turned about and 
hastily retreated to Canada. Thus the United States was 
saved from further trouble in this section. 

Roosevelt says in his ''War of 1S12": " Macdonough in 



l6o THOMAS MACDONOUGH 

this battle won a higher fame than any other commander in 
the war, British or American. He had a decidedly superior 
force to contend against, the officers and men on both sides 
being about on a par in every respect, and it was solely owing 
to his foresight and resource that we won the victory." 

This was the last of the great battles on the Canadian 
frontier. The treaty of peace was signed the following 
December. The war had lasted two years. Besides these 
battles on the Canadian border, the city of Washington 
had been burned by the English, and many individual 
vessels had successfully engaged English war ships. The 
American frigate Constitution won many victories in these 
naval duels. 

Throughout the war, the American navy did splendid work. 
Although decidedly inferior at the beginning of the war, it 
defeated the "Queen of the Northern Seas." Roosevelt 
says this remarkable success was due to the fact that our 
men were better marksman, that our boats were more easily 
maneuvered and were not disturbed by the rough waters; 
whether balancing on the top of a wave or plowing in a 
trough, their shots took effect. And last of all the Americans 
were fighting for their rights; they fought hard and they won. 

This war greatly strengthened the spirit of union between 
the states. The victorious na\7 belonged to the nation, not 
to any state or section. Men who had opposed building war 
ships could not help being proud of the naval victories. 

It also won for the United States the respect of other 
nations. After that, vessels floating the American flag could 
sail the seas without interference. Thiis the United States 
is said to have won her commercial independence. 

Topical Outline. — Macdonough's boyhood; senice under Decatur 
in Mediterranean. Champlain valley invaded by Burgoyne and again, 



WAR OF l8l2 



i6i 



in 1814, by an army and fleet. Macdonough skillfully defeats English. 
Much credit due the navy. 

For Written Work. — Compare the work of Perry with that of Mac- 
donough. 

Map Work. — Locate Richelieu (Sorel) River, Lake Champlain, 
Plattsburg, Saranac River. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Roosevelt, ''Naval War of 1812," pp. 375-398; Williams, 
" Stories from Early New York History," pp. 259-264. 

Fiction. — Otis, "With Porter on the Essex"; Seawell, ''Decatur 
and Somers"; "Midshipman Paulding." 




Cannon mounted for Navy 



LAFAYETTE — A LOYAL FRIEND TO THE 
UNITED STATES 

During the war for American independence several for- 
eigners gave valuable aid to the colonies. Of these men 
probably Lafayette is the most gratefully remembered. This 
may be due to his rank and extreme youth when he came to 
help us, and to his delightful visit many years later. 

Lafayette was born September 6, 1757, in the old castle of 
his family in central France. He belonged to the highest rank 
of French nobility. At the age of thirteen he was left an or- 
phan in full possession of valuable landed estates and with the 
title of marquis. While at college in Paris, he was received 
at the court of Louis XV. and became a great favorite with 
the king. He also served as a page in the royal household, 
and through the queen's influence received a military com- 
mission at the age of fifteen. 

The marquis was a tall boy, and more mature than most 
of his age. His natural self-reliance was also fostered by his 
training and experience. At sixteen he married, and was 
stationed as captain of dragoons in the garrison at Metz, on 
the German border. 

At a grand dinner party soon after the Declaration of 

Independence, Lafayette first heard of the struggle of the 

American colonists. He at once became interested in their 

cause and took opportunity to learn more about them. After 

hearing of Washington's brilliant victories at Trenton and 

Princeton, he decided to help the Americans in person. He 

162 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



163 



fitted out a vessel at his own expense, and in April, 1777, with 
Baron De Kalb and eleven other officers sailed for America. 
On his arrival hc- formally offered his services to Congress, 
asking to serve as a volunteer and to pay his own expenses. 
The high rank of the young man and his generous offer made 
him very acceptable. The next day he was presented to 




The First Meeting between Washington and Lafayette 

Washington, who was so well pleased that he asked that this 
French marquis, not yet twenty years of age, be made a major 
general. From that time the two men were very warm 
friends. 

Some weeks later, Lafayette was wounded at the battle of 
Brandywine. The following June he proved most helpful 
at the battle of Monmouth. A French alliance had been 



164 



LAFAYETTE 



made in February, 1778, but it was not until Lafayette's 
visit to France in 1779 that any help was sent. He then told 
his people what the colonists most needed. As a result, 
France loaned money, and later sent an army and a fleet to 
be subject to Washington's orders at all times. 

In 1780 Lafayette was given command of troops for the 
defense of Virginia, and conducted a brilliant campaign 
against Cornwallis, who invaded that state in the summer 









■PIH 


'X 


1 


gl 





Surrender of Cornwallis 

of 1 781. At the siege of Yorktown his men did splendid 
work, and on the day of the capture of the town they 
closely followed Hamilton's men over the defenses. 

This young Frenchman had been brought up in luxury. 
He had great wealth, a fine home, wife and children. He 
enjoyed the friendship of the royal family and of people of 
noble rank and culture. He had the best of prospects, but 
he gave up all at the age of nineteen to help, without pay, an 



VISIT TO UNITED STATES IN 1 824 1 65 

unknown people struggling against a powerful government. 
For five years he shared the privations of the American 
army. He even adopted the simple style of American dress, 
laying aside the splendid French uniform that he was entitled 
to wear. Such conduct merited the love of Washington and 
of the American people. 

After the war he returned home, and was soon called 
upon to serve his own country through many years of 
revolution and war. When peace finally came he used his 
splendid abihty to secure to France a constitutional govern- 
ment. For forty years he served France as soldier and 
statesman. 

During all these years Lafayette kept a warm interest in 
the United States, and often spoke of visiting this country. 
In 1824 Congress requested President Monroe to invite him 
as a national guest. In July of that year, with his son George 
Washington Lafayette and other attendants, he sailed for 
New York. On August 16, 6000 citizens in gayly decked 
boats met him down the bay and escorted his vessel to its 
dock, amid the firing of salutes and the cheers of 200,000 
people awaiting his arrival. 

He visited each of the twenty-four states of the Union and 
everywhere was most enthusiastically received. He went 
first to the city of Washington, where he was received by Presi- 
dent Monroe and welcomed as the nation's guest. He then 
visited Mount Vernon, where forty years before he had enjoyed 
the hospitality of General and Mrs. Washington. He visited 
Yorktown, and on the forty-third anniversary of the surrender 
of Cornwallis there was a grand celebration, and Lafayette 
held a reception in Washington's old war tent. 

During his tour of the states there was a great variety of 
celebrations. In some towns hundreds of little girls strewed 

MAK. & DEF. — II 



i66 



LAFAYETTE 



flowers in his path. At others he was met by school children 
who marched ahead singing a welcome as he entered the 
town. Reunions of surviving Revolutionary soldiers were 
held everywhere. At Buffalo he was greeted by the old In- 
dian chief Red Jacket, who had served under his command. 
The old Indian said : " Alas ! time has left my white brother red 

cheeks and a head covered 
with hair; but for me 
look!" and pulhng off his 
cap showed that his head 
was bald . Lafayette then 
removed the wig covering 
his own baldness, much 
to the surprise and joy of 
the old chief. 

Probably the most re- 
markable event was the 
gathering at Bunker Hill 
on the fiftieth anniversary 
of the batde. At the head 
of a procession of 7000 
people marched 200 of- 
ficers and soldiers of the 
Revolution, forty of whom 
fought on the field fifty 
years before. The Rev. 
Joseph Thaxter, who was chaplain of Colonel Prescott's regi- 
ment on the day of the battle, offered prayer. Daniel Web- 
ster was the orator of the day, and Lafayette laid the corner 
stone of the monument that marks the place of the battle. 

On his sixty-eighth birthday Lafayette sailed for home, 
happy in the expressions of a grateful people. He lived nine 




Lafayette Statue presented by School 
Children to the French 



VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1 8 24 1 67 

years after this as a private citizen, spending most of the 
time at his country estate, a luxury made possible by a gift 
from the United States government, for during the long period 
of war in France he had lost all his ancestral estates. 

On July 4, 1900, a statue of Lafayette, paid for by the school 
children of the United States, was unveiled in Paris and pre- 
sented to the French people as a testimony of the appreciation 
of the present generation for the man who helped America 
in her great need. 

Topical Outline. — Boyhood of the young marquis. Became an 
officer in the French army. Interest in American colonists aroused. 
Decided to help the cause. Served five years. For forty years in French 
service. Visited the United States in 1824-1825. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a story describing Lafayette's visit to 
the United States in 1824. II. Why does Lafayette deserve our ad- 
miration ? 



C^ " '>^^C^'^C^:wC^ ^ 







''^'''' ^ '■^MlnfiMn'^\i'']'SiJ^^^ 



The National Capitol as it was in 1825 



ANDREW JACKSON — WAR HERO AND 
PRESIDENT 

While Lafayette was in America, probably the man most 
talked about, except himself, was Andrew Jackson. Jackson 
had been a presidential candidate in 1824 and, although not 
elected, was still a popular hero. 

Andrew Jackson was born in the hill region of North Caro- 
lina very near the southwestern boundary, March 15, 1767. 
His parents were* Scotch-Irish, and had lived in America but 
two years. His father died about the time of Andrew's 
birth, and his thrifty mother supported her three boys by spin- 
ning flax. Much of Andrew's childhood was spent at the 
home of an uncle who lived a few miles over the line of South 
Carolina. 

Andy, as he was known, was a tall, slender boy, with red 
hair and freckled face. He was wild, mischievous, and 
quick-tempered. Although he had frequent quarrels with his 
boy friends, he was devotedly fond of his mother, and kind to 
all animals, particularly to dogs and horses. From early 
childhood he was a fearless rider, and later in life owned many 
fine horses. 

His boyhood was spent in a frontier country, like that in 
which Daniel Boone grew up, where the schools were poor and 
of short duration. So in school Andy learned little save 
reading, writing, and arithmetic; but his senses were keenly 
alert and he early became well informed. 

He was nine years old when the colonies declared their 

168 



EARLY LIFE 



169 



independence. Rumors of war reached his home, but it was 
not until four years later that the hill country of the Caro- 
linas was invaded by the English. The army of the enemy 
then swept through that neighborhood, and the thirteen-year- 
old Andrew saw his 
brother, cousins, and 
neighbors wounded 
and dying. The 
church was used as 
a hospital; there his 
mother went and 
nursed the sick and 
wounded. . Andrew 
and his brother Rob- 
ert waited on her and 
ran errands. They 
were in and out of 
the building, so could 
see what suffering 
resulted from war. 
The horror of it en- 
raged the sensitive 
boy, and he was eager 

to play a man's part Andrew refuses to obey the Officer 

in fighting the enemy. The time soon came when even four- 
teen-year-old boys were useful in protecting homes and prop- 
erty against invaders. 

In one of the raids by the enemy, Andrew and his brother 
Robert were taken prisoners in the home of their cousin. 
Lieutenant Crawford. The English officers took what they 
wished in the house, and then one of them ordered Andrew 
to clean his mud-bespattered jackboots. Andrew replied, 




lyo ANDREW JACKSON 

"Sir, I am a prisoner of war and not your slave." Angered 
by the reply, the officer struck the boy with his sword, wound- 
ing him on the head and on one hand. The scars of both 
wounds remained until his death. 

With twenty other prisoners, the' Jackson boys were taken 
forty miles distant, and not allowed any food or a drop of 
water on the way. They were then thrust into a small 
inclosure with over 200 other prisoners. Smallpox soon 
broke out among them. Mrs. Jackson succeeded in secur- 
ing the release of her boys, but not until both were sick. Rob- 
ert lived only two days after reaching home, and Andrew was 
for many weeks very sick with smallpox. Before he recovered, 
his mother had died. So we find Andrew Jackson at the age 
of fifteen without father, mother, or brothers, much broken 
in health and very bitter toward the English as the cause of 
his sufferings. 

At seventeen he began to study law, and was admitted to 
practice by the spring of 1787. He then joined a company 
of emigrants who were going over the mountains to settle in 
Tennessee. Lawyers were few in that new country. Young 
Jackson built up a large practice, and soon was the owner 
of hundreds of acres of land. It was not long before he was 
appointed United States District Attorney for that section, and 
he was fearless in the performance of his duty. In his efforts 
to maintain order among the frontiersmen and wild adven- 
turers who had flocked to the new territory, Jackson some- 
times had to fight to preserve the dignity of the law. The 
frontier life was rough. Disputes were settled quickly and 
often violently. Jackson was hot-tempered and a good shot. 
One of the many duels fought by him was in 1806, when he 
killed young Charles Dickinson. This quarrel grew out of 
both political and domestic conditions. Dickinson believed 



WAR OF l8l2 



171 



that Jackson stood in his way to political preferment, and 
Jackson resented some slurs upon Mrs. Jackson made by 
Dickinson. The two men were well matched and both were 
wounded; but Jackson recovered, while his opponent bled 
to death. 

Jackson served in the House of Representatives and was 
appointed to the United States Senate, but resigned, and when 
he was scarcely thirty-two years of age became judge of the 
highest court of Tennessee. 

When the War of 1812 broke out, Jackson offered to raise 
and lead against the enemy an army of 2000 men, but for 
nearly two years his offer was not accepted. The last of 
August, 1813, a band of 
Creek Indians, aroused 
by the English, attacked 
Fort Mimms, in southern 
Alabama, and massacred 
between four and five 
hundred white people. 
The neighboring state of 
Tennessee promptly 
raised 3500 soldiers to be 
sent against the Creeks. 
Jackson was the choice for commander, but he was in bed, 
suffering from wounds received in a foolish quarrel two weeks 
before. When word reached him, he at once began to issue 
orders, and in three days he rose from his bed and started 
on the march to Alabama. When his physician was asked 
whether the general was able to go, he replied, " No other man 
would be able in his condition." But Jackson went, with his 
left arm in a sling and with hardly strength enough to sit on 
his horse. 




Creek War 



172 ANDREW JACKSON 

Because of the poor facilities for transportation and the 
sparsely settled country through which the army marched, 
food for soldiers and horses was very difficult to get. For 
weeks before reaching the land of the Creeks, General Jack- 
son's greatest problem was how to keep his men from starv- 
ing. Hungfy men are hard to control, and no less than four 
times did his troops break out in open mutiny. But at all 
times Jackson was equal to the emergency. This campaign 
against the Creek Indians lasted eight months, and resulted 
in the complete conquest of the savages. 

In May, 18 14, as a reward for this work. General Jackson 
was appointed major general and was given command of 
the United States forces in the south, with headquarters at 
Mobile. Florida was at this time a Spanish colony, and 
Spain was at peace with the United States. But that power 
was secretly in sympathy with England, and English troops 
made Pensacola, in Florida, a base of operations against 
Mobile. General Jackson, after having remonstrated in 
vain with the governor of Pensacola for affording shelter 
and protection to the enemies of the United States, marched 
against the place, stormed the town, and compelled the 
Enghsh to abandon Florida. After he had returned to his 
headquarters in Mobile, word came that the Enghsh, in 
order to control the Mississippi River, were moving to cap- 
ture New Orleans. 

New Orleans was poorly prepared for defense against vet- 
eran English soldiers, so Jackson's problem was a difficult 
one. With great dispatch, he made himself familiar with the 
surrounding country, and decided to prevent the English 
from attacking the city itself. Early in the afternoon of 
December 23, he was told that the English army was within 
eight miles of the city. He at once summoned the aides, 



WAR OF ISI2 



173 



saying: ''Gentlemen, the British are below. We must fight 
them to-night." Messengers were sent ordering every divi- 
sion to its assigned position, and, three hours later, Jack- 
son left the city to meet the enemy. The English were sur- 
prised on the road eight miles below New Orleans, and the 
fighting lasted half that night. 

The next day, December 24, the treaty of peace was signed 
at Ghent in Belgium. But as there was no Atlantic cable, 
the official news did not reach Jackson till March 6, 181 5. 
The greater part of the fighting near New Orleans took 
place after the two countries were supposed to be at peace. 

The campaign lasted two weeks longer, and the great final 
battle was fought on January 8, when the brave English 
soldiers met a crushing defeat in attacking Jackson's line of 
entrenchments. 

Jackson's victory is remarkable because the attacking 




Battle of New Orleans 



174 ANDREW JACKSON 

army was made up of splendidly trained English veterans 
under brave and experienced gommanders, while many of 
the American soldiers had never seen a battle and all were 
poorly armed. Once at a critical moment 300 recruits came 
down the river to Jackson's camp, but not a man had a 
weapon, and there was not one to spare in the camp. Jackson 
made the best of what he had. His generalship was superb. 
When he knew he was too weak to attack the enemy, he 
held his ground doggedly and earned the title, " Old 
Hickory," that his soldiers loved to call him. 

Three years later, Jackson commanded in another war 
with the Creek Indians, part of whom were in United 
States territory and a part in Florida. During the war, 
Jackson followed a band over the line, and finding they 
received aid from the Spanish settlements, he captured 
two towns. The government afterwards gave these towns 
back to Spain, but the raid helped the Spanish to decide 
to sell the territory, as it was becoming more and more 
difficult to defend. In 1819 Florida was purchased for 
$5,000,000, and in 182 1 Jackson was appointed the first 
governor. 

General Jackson's home in Tennessee was a fine estate of 
1 100 acres with a spacious mansion, known as the Hermit- 
age, near Nashville. He lived the life of the country 
gentleman, and eagerly returned to his home after any 
period of public service. He had no children, but adopted 
several. Two nephews of his wife grew up as his sons, one 
bearing the name Andrew Jackson. During the Creek wars 
a mother was found dead with a babe in her arms. The gen- 
eral took the child, found some one to care for it, and then 
sent it to the Hermitage, where it found a happy home. 

In 1824 Jackson was nominated for the presidency. 



PRESIDENT 



175 




The Hermitage 

None of the four candidates that year received a majority 
of the 261 electoral votes, and the election went to the 
House of Representatives, by whom John Quincy Adams 
was made President. Jackson was hurt because of this 
selection, and the next four years were one continuous pres- 
idential campaign for him. He was elected with a big vote 
in 1828. A few weeks later, on December 22, his wife died 
very suddenly. His biographer says that he never re- 
covered from this shock. He had always been a hot- 
tempered man, given to the use of strong language and 
having many quarrels which resulted in duels. He now 
became very much subdued; one of his friends declared, 
" twenty years older in a night." 

Early in January, he started for Washington to assume the 
duties of President. The route was by steamboat down the 
Cumberland and up the Ohio to Pittsburg, then across 



176 ANDREW JACKSON 

Pennsylvania to the capital. Everywhere he was enthusiastic- 
ally received as a great hero and the friend of the people. He 
had always been a man of strong likes and dislikes. He also 
possessed the notion that a man who did not vote for him was 
his enemy. He confused political questions with personal feel- 
ings. So, when he became President, he promptly dismissed 
from office those who had not voted for him and appointed 
his friends, regardless of their fitness for the work. Thus he 
introduced what has been known as the "Spoils System." 

After the War of 181 2, a new tariff had been placed on 
imported goods as a protection to the small manufacturing 
estabhshments that had been started in the United States. 
In 1824, and again in 1828, the tariff was made higher than 
before. As the southern states did not manufacture but 
brought from Europe many things in exchange for their 
cotton, they paid a large proportion of the tariff. Much 
objection was made by the South. Finally, South Carolina, 
in 1832, adopted a Nullification Act which declared the 
tariff laws of the United States null and void in that state. 
Now President Jackson did not favor a high tariff, and 
many southern people expected his help. But at a Jef- 
ferson birthday banquet in 1830, he had surprised many of 
his friends by giving a toast of his own choosing, "The 
Federal Union: It must be preserved." 

Jackson kept his word when the crisis came. As President, 
it was his duty to enforce the laws of Congress in all states 
alike. So when South CaroKna tried to nulKfy the tariff 
law, he ordered General Scott to Charleston to enforce 
obedience. This fearless conduct of President Jackson 
preserved the Union. In a short time the tariff was reduced 
by Congress, but not aboHshed; it was collected in South 
Carolina as in other states. 



PRESIDENT 177 

In 1837 Jackson returned to his old home, the Hermitage, 
where he hved until 1845, dying at the age of seventy-eight. 
He was a remarkable man, a product of the humblest and 
poorest people in a wild and unsettled part of a new country, 
and owed little or nothing to education. He rose by his own 
efforts to the highest judicial position in his state, to the pin- 
nacle of military power, and to the office of President of the 
United States. In each place he discharged his duties faith- 
fully. 

Topical Outline. — Born of poor Scotch-Irish parents. As a child 
he saw the terrors of war. Death of mother and brother. Studied 
law and went to Tennessee. Served in Congress and as judge of state 
supreme court. Served against Creek Indians. Commanded at battle 
of New Orleans. Became President. Spoils system. Prevented 
nullification. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph on what you consider 
Jackson's greatest work. Give your reasons in full. II. Why did 
people like Jackson so well, although he was so hot-tempered? 

Map Work. — Locate Nashville, Pensacola, New Orleans. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Parton, "General Jackson." 

Biography. — Burton, ''Four American Patriots," pp. 133-192; 
Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," pp. 162-172; Blaisdell 
and Ball, "Hero Stories from American History," pp. 185-198; Brown, 
" Andrew Jackson." 

Fiction. — Stoddard, "The Errand 3oy of Andrew Jackson." 



HENRY CLAY, THE GREAT PEACEMAKER 

In the first half of the nineteenth century, there were 
three men prominent in American affairs. They were John 
C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Daniel Webster of Mas- 
sachusetts, and Henry Clay of Kentucky. Although none 
of them became President, they had a greater influence 
in guiding public opinion and in shaping the policies of 
their parties than the Presidents with whom they were 
associated. 

The life story of Henry Clay is most interesting because 
it shows us how in this country a poor boy may, by his 
own energy and abihty, rise to a position of great use- 
fulness. Clay was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on 
the 1 2th of April, 1777. His father died when Henry was 
four years old, leaving a small farm and a large family to 
the care of his mother. Mrs. Clay struggled bravely to 
support her children, but she was able to give them only 
a limited education. About all the schooling Henry had 
was in the little log schoolhouse of the neighborhood. Like 
other boys on a farm, he had to help with the work at home. 
As soon as he was able to guide a plow, he helped with the 
plowing or the cultivating. Often in the early morning, he 
would go to mill on horseback with a bag of corn or wheat 
for a saddle, and bring back the flour for the family. 

The district in which they hved was called the "Slashes," 
because of its low, marshy nature, and in after years Clay 
was known as "the Millboy of the Slashes." 

178 



EARLY LIFE 1 79 

When he was fourteen years old, Henry went to work in a 
store in the city of Richmond. He did his work there faith- 
fully, and spent his leisure time in reading. About this time, 
Henry's mother remarried, and his stepfather, through in- 
fluential friends, obtained a place for him as clerk in the 
court of chancery. A part of his duties was to copy the 
records of the court. The country boy was at first laughed 
at by the other clerks, for he wore homespun clothes and was 
shy and awkward. But he had a genial, sunny nature, and 
soon made friends with them. Moreover, his records were 
well kept, and his handwriting clear and careful. So, when 
the judge of the court wished a young man to write out 
and record his decisions, he selected Clay. This judge, who 
had the title of Chancellor, was George Wythe, one of Vir- 
ginia's greatest lawyers and statesmen. He was a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence and a member of the con- 
vention which made the Constitution. It was in his office 
that Thomas Jefferson studied law. 

So, you see, it was a stroke of good fortune for young Clay 
to come under the influence of this great man. Wythe liked 
the bright boy, and took an interest in his reading and studies. 
He advised Henry to study law, and loaned him books for 
that purpose. After four years as Wythe's secretary, Clay 
read law for a year and was admitted to the bar. During 
this time, he trained his memory and cultivated his voice by 
reading some good book, usually a history, and then trying 
to recite what he had just read. In the fields and forests, or 
sometimes in a barn, with only the cattle for listeners, as he 
tells us, he tried these speeches. He organized also among 
the young men of Richmond a debating club in which they 
probably settled to their own satisfaction all the burning 
questions of the day. In these simple and practical ways he 



l80 HENRY CLAY 

laid the foundation of his great skill as a public speaker and 
debater. 

Having fitted himself as a lawyer, Clay now began to look 
about for a place in which to practice his profession. His 
parents had moved to Lexington, Kentucky, a few years 
before, so he decided to go there. Like many others, he felt 
that the West offered greater opportunities for an ambitious 
young man. 

Lexington, at that time, was a rough pioneer town on the 
frontier. But descendants of some of the best families 
of Virginia had already setded there, and among these 
Clay found congenial spirits. He had the happy fac- 
ulty of making friends readily, and he was soon one of the 
leading lawyers of the place. The story is told of an experi- 
ence he had as a member of a debating club w^hich he joined 
soon after coming to Lexington. He had attended several 
meetings, but had taken no part in the proceedings. One 
evening as the debate was about to be closed, he said to a 
friend that the subject did not seem to him to have been 
fully discussed. He was asked to speak, but when he arose 
was so embarrassed that he began, " Gendemen of the 
Jury." The members of the club laughed at this mistake, 
and his embarrassment naturally increased. But quickly 
collecting his wdts, he delivered an oration that his friends 
said afterwards was one of the best speeches of his life. 

Much of his early practice was in criminal cases, w^here his 
sympathetic nature led him to take the side of the defense. 
Although he was not a deep student of law, he had the 
power of making people believe as he did, and was usually 
successful in pleading before a jury. He was as willing to 
take a case for a poor cHent as for a rich one. Indeed, through- 
out his life, his courtesy toward all classes was most marked. 



LAWYER l8l 

At one time in later years, when he was riding with his young 
son, they met a negro who lifted his hat respectfully. Clay 
replied to the greeting, but his son did not. Noticing this, 
Clay turned to the boy and said, "My son, would you allow 
a slave to show greater courtesy than you do? " 

Clay prospered so rapidly that he was able in 1799 to pur- 
chase an estate of about 600 acres on the outskirts of Lexing- 
ton. He named the new home Ashland, and to it brought his 
young bride. Here they hved happily for more than fifty 
years, and here, after he became prominent in national affairs, 
Clay entertained his friends lavishly. A man of his marked 
ability could not long keep out of public life, so we soon hear 
of him in the Kentucky legislature. He served also for two 
short terms in the United States Senate. 

But it was not until 1811 that he really began his career as 
a national statesman. In that year he was elected to Congress 
from the Lexington district, and was chosen speaker of the 
House of Representatives. The country was on the verge of 
its second great war. England had interfered with our 
commerce. Under the pretense of searching for British 
subjects, she claimed the right to stop our merchant ships 
and take from them any sailors that were natives of Great 
Britain. Her motto was, "Once an Englishman, always an 
Englishman," while we believed that a man who came to our 
country had a right to become a citizen of the United States, 
and that he therefore ceased to be a citizen of the country 
from which he came. Clay was one of the leading men in 
demanding that the rights of Americans, and especially of 
American sailors, be respected, and it was largely through his 
influence that the War of 181 2 was declared. How this war 
was fought and how gallantly our little na\7 swept the seas 
has been told elsewhere. It developed in us a national 

MAK. & DEF. — 12 



1 82 HENRY CLAY 

spirit, and made us respected at home and abroad. Clay was 
sent to Europe as one of the, commissioners to arrange a 
treaty of peace. The treaty was concluded December 24, 
1814, and Clay, returning home, resumed his seat in Con- 
gress, in one house or the other of which he served almost 
continuously until his death. 

After peace had been declared, an era of good feeling 
began in the United States. The Federahst party had op- 
posed the war and as a result had lost its influence, so that 
the Republican party was the only influential factor in 
national affairs. During the war, our trade with foreign 
countries had been practically destroyed. As a result, we were 
obliged to manufacture our own goods, especially in the 
New England states, where great cotton and woolen mills 
were established. After the war, foreign-made goods began 
to flood our markets. This led to the passage by Congress 
of a tariff to protect American industries and to provide 
money for national improvements. 
■ One of the marked movements of this period of our history 
was the rapid growth of the West. Emigrants from Europe 
and from the more easterly states were flowing over the 
Alleghenies in a constant stream into the fertile valleys of the 
Ohio and Mississippi. The population of Ohio, which was 
45,000 in 1800, had increased to 580,000 in 1820. From the 
vast domain between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi, 
the great and powerful states of Ohio, Indiana, Iflinois, 
Mississippi, and Alabama were created during the years 
between 1803 and 1819. Western travel was mainly by flat- 
boats, where the rivers were navigable, or by wagons. The 
settler would put his household goods and family utensils 
in a wagon and travel into the new country until he found 
a favorable spot to locate. Here he would build a log cabin, 



GROWTH or THE WEST 



183 



clear the land, and plant his crops. The wagons were 
curious sights, roofed over as they were with canvas, like 
a tent. They were called prairie schooners, and in some 
sections were also known as "Conestoga" wagons. It is 
said that in one year over twelve thousand of them came 
into Pittsburg heavily laden with freight and passengers. 
From New York and the East goods were brought up the 
Hudson in sloops, then taken by wagon to the falls of the 




Emigrant's Wagon 

Mohawk. Here they were loaded into '^ Schenectady 
boats" and poled up the Mohawk to Oneida Lake and 
Lake Ontario. Then by sloop to the falls of the Niagara, 
a short "carry" overland to Lake Erie, then by boat to 
Westfield on this lake, and by wagons to Chautauqua 
Lake. In this roundabout way, the cargo reached the 
headwaters of the Ohio, down whose broad surface it floated 
in flatboats to its long journey's end. It was seen that 
some more direct route to the West must be provided, 



1 84 



HENRY CLAY 



and this was one of the reasons for building the Erie 
Canal. 

Clay was foremost in urging a system of internal improve- 
ments at government expense. He saw that one of the great 
problems of the day was the opening of the West for settle- 
ment. One of the plans for accompHshing this was the 
building of the Cumberland Road. It was begun in 1806, 
and was built partly by the government and partly by the 
states through which it passed. The route followed was al- 
most exactly the one taken by General Braddock's army in 
the French and Indian War. Starting at Cumberland, Mary- 
land, it extended in a northwesterly direction to Washing- 




The National Road 

ton, Pennsylvania. Then turning west, it passed through the 
northern part of West Virginia to Wheeling on the Ohio River. 
From there, it extended westward through the central parts of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, passing through the present pros- 
perous cities of Columbus in Ohio, and Indianapohs and 
Terre Haute in Indiana to its western terminus at Vandalia, 
Illinois. It was completed in 181 8 and became a main ave- 
nue of trade and travel. In this expansion and development 
of the West, Clay, as a western man, was intensely interested. 
But amid the rapid growth and prosperity of our country, 
another great national problem began to occupy men's 
minds. Slavery, you will remember, had been early intro- 



COMPROMISE OF 1820 1 85 

duced into America, and during the colonial period had 
existed throughout the colonies. 

Few of the earlier statesmen had ventured to defend it on 
moral grounds, and at the close of the Revolution it was 
gradually dying out in the North. Opposition to it was 
most marked in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 
among such leaders as Washington, Madison, and Franklin. 
But the invention of the cotton gin and the rapid increase 
in the value of the cotton crop made slave labor very profit- 
able. So the southern states began to feel that slavery 
was just and its continuance necessary for their prosperity. 
As the western territory became settled and states were 
organized, the question arose whether these new states 
should be admitted into the Union as slaveholding or 
free states. Slavery had already been forbidden in the 
Northwest Territory, and from this territory the free states of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois had been created. In the new 
states south of the Ohio River slavery was permitted. But 
in the great stretch of land we had acquired by the Loui- 
siana purchase, the question of slavery was still to be settled. 
Missouri was one of the first states to be formed from this 
territory. If left to herself, she would naturally permit 
slavery, for her pioneers were mostly from the South. 

The question was sharply debated in Congress, for the 
North feared the further extension of the political power of 
the South. At last, by the Compromise of 1820, of which 
Clay, although not the author, was the warm supporter, 
Missouri was admitted as a slave state while, with this excep- 
tion, slavery was forbidden in all the territory north of 36° 30^ 

Again in 1832, when South Carolina, angered because of 
a high protective tariff, threatened to secede from the Union, 
Clay came forward with another compromise plan which 



1 86 HENRY CLAY 

succeeded in quieting the country for a while. For these 
measures as well as for others ^hich made for peace and for 
the preservation of the Union, Clay won the title of " the 
Great Peacemaker." Indeed, his love of country and his 
desire to serve it honestly and faithfully are the most marked 
features of his career as a statesman. He believed in the 
continuance of the national banking system, and in a tariff 
to protect American industries. 

His love of liberty led him to support Greece in her war 
for independence. His sympathies were also enlisted in 
behalf of the struggling South American republics. Clay 
was a slaveholder, but was always humane and kind in his 
treatment of his slaves, as is shown by an extract from a letter 
to a friend in the North. 



^^ Z^."%r ^/ 




WAR WITH MEXICO 1 87 

His life's ambition was to be President. But in his active 
public career he had made many enemies, and he was put 
aside in favor of smaller men against whom no faction of his 
party might revolt. This was a bitter disappointment to 
him and to his friends. His great ability, his power of leader- 
ship, and his lofty patriotism would have enabled him to serve 
his country wnth dignity and honor in that high office. He 
never, however, sacrificed his principles to his ambition. At 
one time, in order to carry through measures which he 
believed to be necessary for the peace of the country. 
Senator Clay had to act contrary to the wishes of many 
political friends. He was warned that by doing so he 
would lose their support for the presidency, but he made 
this immortal reply, ''I would rather be right than be 
President." 

During these years the question of slavery was increasing 
in importance. Conciliatory measures gave only temporary 
relief. The South, in order to gain more territory in which 
slavery might be estabhshed, had brought on a war with 
Mexico. The pretext for war was most flimsy — merely the 
ownership of a strip of land between the Rio Grande and 
Nueces rivers. Although we won every battle of this war, 
it was no credit to us, for we were like a big bully fighting 
a little boy for property which he honestly believed was his. 
However, as a result of the war, we obtained a vast tract of 
land north of Mexico and extending to the Pacific Ocean. 

It was expected by the South that this region would 
eventually be made into slaveholding states. But the 
discovery of gold in California changed the whole course 
of our history. In the great rush of gold seekers to that 
country, northern men were in the majority, and in 1850 
California asked for admission into the Union as a free 



i88 



HENRY CLAY 



state. Again the whole country was thrown into great 
excitement. The South felt that the Mexican war had 
been fought by its sons, and now it seemed a grievous wrong 
that the results of the war should strengthen the political 
power of the free states. 

Clay had expected to retire to private life, but was persuaded 
to come back to the Senate. He hoped to reconcile the North 
and the South. A slave owner himself, living in a slave- 




Clay speaking in the Senate 



holding state, he could not fully realize how earnestly the 
people of the North were beginning to feel that slavery was 
a great evil that ought not to be allowed to extend its influence 
farther. Clay was now seventy-four years of age, with a life- 
time behind him rich in honorable service to his country. He 
longed to harmonize the two opposing sections of the 
country, for to him the integrity of the Union was greater 
than the question of slavery. 



COMPROMISE OF 1850 1 89 

So he introduced the Compromise of 1850, by which he 
hoped to satisfy both sides. The main provisions of the bill 
were: {i) that California should be admitted as a free state, and 
(2) that all the other territory acquired from Mexico should 
be organized without any reference to slavery. The measure 
became a law; but like most compromises it failed to satisfy 
either side, and it only postponed the inevitable struggle of 
the Civil War. In its support, however. Clay was governed 
by his great love for his country and his earnest desire to pre- 
serve the Union. His last great public effort seemed to have 
exhausted him, for his health failed rapidly. He was often 
so feeble that he could with difficulty reach his seat in the 
Senate chamber, and at last was unable to attend to his duties 
as Senator. 

Possessing the love and confidence of the whole country, 
he came to the close of his eventful career, and on the 29th 
of June, 1852, died in the city of Washington. He was 
buried at Lexington, and his last resting place is visited 
even to-day by admirers of the great orator and statesman. 

Topical Outline. — Early life and efforts to get an education. Com- 
mences the practice of law. Home in Lexington, Kentucky. Causes 
of the War of 181 2; Clay's share in it; its result. Western movement; 
means and routes of travel; Erie Canal and Cumberland Road. Begin- 
nings of slavery and tariff agitation; Clay's compromise measures. 
Results. 

For Written Work. — I. Tell the story of Clay's boyhood. II. In 
what way did Clay train himself as a public speaker? III. What 
were the causes of the War of 1812? IV. Imagine yourself going from 
New York to Pittsburg a hundred years ago. Describe your journey. 
V. How did the views of the South regarding slavery change during 
Clay's lifetime? What were the reasons for this change? VI. Name 
the three great compromise measures with which Clay's name is asso- 
ciated. VII. Describe one of these measures. VIII. What was the 



igo 



HENRY CLAY 



real cause of the Mexican War? IX. What was Clay's attitude regard- 
ing slavery ? 

Map Work. — Locate Richmond, Va., and Lexington, Ky. Trace 
the Cumberland Road: Cumberland, Md.; W' heeling; Columbus, O.; 
Indianapolis; Terre Haute; Vandalia. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Clay, ''Speech on the War of 1812 "; last five paragraphs, 
U. S. Reader, pp. 284-285. 

Biography. ~ Cmvens, "Story of Henry Clay"; Brooks, "Century 
Book of Famous Americans," pp. 145-155; Williams, "Some Successful 
Americans," pp. 155-171. 



I 




Henry Clay's home in Kentucky 



DANIEL WEBSTER, THE DEFENDER OF THE 
CONSTITUTION 

Among the great statesmen who have swayed men's minds 
by their persuasive eloquence or have convinced them by 
their iron logic, the name of Daniel Webster stands pre- 
eminent. No other American has equaled him in majesty 
of presence and in power of speech. The few simple words 
which Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg 
Cemetery constitute, without question, the greatest single 
oration ever delivered by an American; but, excepting this 
address, our history and our literature record no greater 
and no more enduring orations than those given by Webster. 
While Clay's and Calhoun's speeches are forgotten, those of 
Webster are read to-day by thousands. They are, or ought 
to be, in every school reader, to be learned and declaimed by 
every American boy who loves his country. It is, therefore, 
most fitting for us to know something of the life of this com- 
manding figure in our history. 

Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury (now Franklin), New 
Hampshire, on the i8th of January, 1782. His ancestors 
were Puritan emigrants who came to the New World soon 
after the founding of the Plymouth Colony. They settled in 
New Hampshire, where, in a log cabin, Daniel's father, 
Ebenezer Webster, was born. He grew to be a tall man, of 
splendid physical strength and of sound character. Daniel 
used to say that his father was the handsomest man he ever 
saw, except Daniel's brother Ezekiel. Ebenezer Webster 
served in the French and Indian wars, where he rose to the 

191 



192 DANIEL WEBSTER 

rank of captain, then married and settled in the town of 
Salisbury. His cabin was an outpost of civilization, on the 
edge of the primeval forests which stretched away to the 
far off French settlements of Canada. 

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Ebenezer Webster 
was captain of the mihtia at Salisbury. The little company of 
loyal men promptly joined the Continental Army and took 
part in the siege of Boston. Captain Webster served faith- 
fully through the war. He was in the battles of Bennington 
and White Plains, and won the approval of General Stark 
and of Washington himself. In 1780 he was stationed at 
West Point, at the time Benedict Arnold was in command of 
that fortress. It is said that on the night when Arnold's 
treason was discovered. General Washington sent for Web- 
ster to guard his tent. Taking him by the hand, Washington 
said, "Captain Webster, I beheve I can trust you." 

We may be sure that in after years Captain Webster often 
proudly told his children how the great general honored and 
trusted him. But in our account of Daniel's family we 
must not forget to honor his mother. Some one has said 
that " the more mother a man has in him, the better he is," 
and it is undoubtedly true that much of Webster's success 
in life was due to the early training and self-sacrificing- care 
his mother gave him. She was of pioneer New Hampshire 
stock, a woman of noble Christian character and of sound 
common sense. 

Daniel was the youngest boy in a family of ten children, 
and as a child was delicate. For this reason, and also 
because he was the baby, he was probably petted by his 
parents and his brothers and sisters. He was allowed to play 
a great deal and to run free in the fields and forests in the 
hope that Mother Nature might strengthen his frail body. 



BOYHOOD 



193 



Like Sir Walter Scott and Washington Irving, who were 
also weakly boys, he grew up in close contact with nature, 
and learned to love hunting and fishing and other healthful 
outdoor sports. As was the custom in New England, his 
mother and his older sisters taught him to read at home. 
The Httle boy loved 
to read as well as to 
play, and his quick 
memory enabled him 
to retain readily 
whatever he read. 

Probably his 
father's example 
guided him in this, 
for Mr. Webster had 
a musical voice and 
was a fine reader. 
Often during the long 
winter evenings he 
would gather his fam- 
ily around the fire- 
place and read aloud 
to them, usually from 
the Bible. Daniel 
Webster in after 
years, in speaking of 
this custom of his father's, said, "if there be anything in my 
style or thoughts worthy to be commended, the credit is due 
to my parents for instilling into my mind an early love for 
the Scriptures." So, following his father's example, Daniel 
became a good reader himself. Often the men who came to 
his father's mill would hitch their horses and say, ''Let's 




Daniel Webster, reading 



194 DANIEL WEBSTER 

go in and hear little Dan read." Or the farmers on their way 
to market would stop at Captain .Webster's for the noon hour, 
and while they rested under the shade of the trees, the little 
boy would read to them some of the fine passages from the 
Bible. 

Webster said of his life at this time, ''I read what I 
could get to read, went to school when I could, and when 
not at school was a farmer's youngest boy, not good for 
much, for want of health and strength, but expected to do 
something." 

Daniel's brother, Ezekiel, was two years older, and the 
boys were very fond of each other. One day Mr. Webster, 
returning after an absence from home, asked Ezekiel what 
he had been doing. "Nothing, sir," the boy replied. "Well, 
Daniel, what have you been doing?" "Helping Zeke, sir," 
was the quick reply. 

Another interesting story is told of Webster's boyhood 
days. In those days some famous speech or document 
like the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence 
was sometimes printed on a handkerchief. One day at the 
little village store at Salisbury, Daniel saw one of these 
handkerchiefs with the Constitution printed on it. Eagerly 
saving his pennies, he at last became its proud purchaser, 
and from it learned most of the great document, of which, 
in his maturer years, he was to be the ablest defender. 

When Daniel was fourteen years old, his parents decided 
to send him away to school. Although they were poor, their 
ambition was to give him a college education. So in the spring 
of 1796 he entered PhilHps Academy at Exeter, New Hamp- 
shire. The boy had never before been so far away from 
home or in such close contact with boys from more prosperous 
families. They made fun of him and of his clothes, little 



I 



EDUCATION 195 

realizing that he would become the greatest of them all. 
This thoughtless ridicule made him so sensitive that when 
his turn came to speak before the school he was too timid 
and bashful to do so. Boys of to-day will S3rmpathize with 
him in his experience, of which he tells us: " Many a piece 
did I commit to memory and rehearse in my room over and 
over again. But when the day came, when the school 
collected, when my name was called and I saw all eyes 
turned upon my seat, I could not raise myself from it." 
But he did the rest of his school duties so well that he was 
soon at the head of his class, and the other boys came to 
respect him for his ability. 

Mr. Webster was unable to keep his son long at Exeter, so 
Daniel finished his college preparations under Dr. Wood, a 
clergyman in a village near the Webster home. Here he did 
not apply himself so closely to his books as he had at the 
Academy, so that often his master had to chide him for spend- 
ing too much time in hunting and fishing. One day, as a 
punishment. Dr. Woods gave the boy one hundred lines of 
Virgil to memorize. When the time came for his recitation, 
Daniel had learned not only the task set for him but also four 
hundred hnes more. This pleased the master so much that 
he said, ''Well, Dan, you may have the rest of the day for 
pigeon-shooting." 

In the fall of 1797, Webster finished his preparation and 
entered Dartmouth College, at Hanover, New Hampshire. 
.Here he read widely and thoughtfully, although he did not 
take high rank in scholarship. Here also he overcame his 
boyish timidity, and became one of the best speakers and 
debaters in the college. He was graduated in 1801 and began 
the study of law. But his brother Ezekiel, for whom Daniel 
always had the deepest affection, wished also to have a college 



196 DANIEL WEBSTER 

education. Ezekiel had done much to help him through 
college, and he now saw an opportunity to repay this self- 
sacrifice. So Daniel applied for and was appointed principal 
of the Academy at Fryeburg, Maine. He was to have three 
hundred and fifty dollars for his year's work, and with a part 
of this money he could help pay his brother's expenses. 

He was a successful teacher, and had a strong influence over 
his pupils. Some of them in old age used to tell of the impres- 
sive manner in which Webster offered the morning and eve- 
ning prayers with which he always opened and closed his 
school. Out of school hours, he used to earn money by copy- 
ing deeds, and gave every dollar he could spare to his loyal 
brother in college. 

After Ezekiel had finished at Dartmouth, he went to Boston, 
where he taught a private school. Here Daniel soon joined 
him and aided in the school, at the same time pursuing his 
law studies. Daniel was fortunate at this time in obtaining 
a clerkship in the office of Christopher Gore, a famous lawyer 
of Boston, from whom Gore Hall in the Harvard Law School 
was afterwards named. Gore's aid to Webster was of great 
value, and it was not long before the young man was admitted 
to the bar. He began the practice of his profession in Bos- 
cawen, a little town near his home, but two years later 
removed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Here he soon 
became a leader in the social and professional life of the city. 

In 1 81 2 he was elected to Congress as a member from New 
Hampshire, and from this time was a prominent figure in our 
national life. 

The generation of statesmen who had won our independence 
and established a new nation were passing away, and a new 
race of leaders were taking their places in the halls of Congress. 

Among these young men of vigorous intellect and of strong 



ORATOR 



197 




personality were John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, and 
Henry Clay of Kentucky. With these men Webster became 
associated, and it was not long before he was their equal in 
statecraft and in debate. From the first he allied himself with 
the Federalist party and advo- 
cated its principles. He favored 
a sound currency, a moderate 
protective tariff, and internal 
improvements at the expense of 
the federal government. But he 
opposed the War of 181 2 as un- 
necessary and injurious to our 
commerce. In the debates on 
these subjects he often came in 
conflict with Calhoun, who held 
opposite views. 

In 1816 Webster moved from 
Portsmouth to Boston, where he 
built up a large and profitable law practice. The demands 
of his profession compelled him to retire from public life for 
a time, but in 1823 he was again elected to Congress, and for 
thirty years represented Massachusetts almost continuously 
either in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. The 
period during which his greatest service was given to his 
country's cause was one of political unrest. Old parties were 
breaking up and new ones being formed, sectional feelings 
were being aroused, and the question of slavery was widening 
the breach between the northern and the southern states. 
In these stormy times Daniel Webster stands conspicuous in 
his loyalty to the Union. Indeed, during his long and honor- 
able career, the thought nearest his heart, the thought to which 
he gave his splendid abilities, was the integrity of the Union 

MAK. & DEF. — 13 



John C. Calhoun 



198 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



and the sacredness of the Constitution. Love of country, 
reverence for its institutions, and gratitude for its blessings 
were the thernes on which he loved to dwell and in behalf of 
which he spoke most eloquently. 

Not all of his speeches were delivered in the chambers 

of Congress. As our foremost 
American citizen, he was called 
upon to address great assemblies, 
or to be the orator at celebrations 
of great events in our national 
history. Such were his orations 
at the laying of the corner stone 
of the Bunker Hill monument, 
and also at its dedication, and on 
the two-hundredth anniversary 
of the landing of the Pilgrims. 
But it was in the fulfillment of 
his duties as one of the country's 
lawmakers, when the gaunt spec- 
ter of secession was abroad, when 
he felt that our very national existence was threatened, that he 
reached the highest flights of oratory. 

One of his speeches deserves more than passing mention. 
The circumstances leading to its delivery were these. By an 
act of Congress, a high protective tariff had been placed upon 
goods brought into the United States from abroad. This 
benefited the manufacturing states of New England, but was 
not popular in the South. The people of that section 
wished to buy their goods in the cheapest markets, and 
these were the markets of Europe. The southern states- 
men made the utmost effort to have Congress repeal the 
tariff law, which they claimed Congress had no right to 




Bunker Hill Monument 



SENATOR 199 

pass in the first place. Failing in this, some of the states 
even threatened to secede. The leaders in this disloyal 
movement were Calhoun and Hayne, the Senators from 
South Carolina. Their arguments were based upon the 
doctrine of state rights; they claimed that a state might, 
under certain circumstances, decide that a law of the federal 
government was unconstitutional; that the state could then 
nullify it, or refuse to allow its enforcement within bound- 
aries of the state; and also that a state might secede, or 
withdraw from the Union, whenever it Hked. 

Against this dangerous doctrine Webster opposed all the 
force of his powerful intellect. He held that the Constitu- 
tion had established a union of the states, — not a partnership 
to be dissolved at will, — and that no state could refuse to 
obey the laws of the nation. 

The debates on the subject continued for a long time and 
became increasingly bitter. Finally they culminated in an 
attack by Mr. Hayne upon Massachusetts and upon Mr. 
Webster personally. It was a masterly speech, and the friends 
of the Union feared that it was unanswerable. Mrs. Webster 
had heard the speech, and when her husband returned from 
the Senate, she anxiously asked him if he could answer the 
arguments. With almost a roar, Mr. Webster replied, "An- 
swer him! I'll grind him to powder." He had only the one 
night in which to prepare his answer, but, in another sense, 
he was fully prepared. The Constitution had been his life 
study; he understood his subject thoroughly, and had often 
used similar arguments elsewhere. 

The next day, as he was entering the Senate chamber, a 
friend said to him, " It is a critical moment. It is time, it 
is high time, that the people of this country shall know what 
this Constitution is." 



200 DANIEL WEBSTER 

"Then," answered Webster, "by the blessing of Heaven 
they shall learn, this day, before the sun goes down, what I 
understand it to be." 

On the eventful day, the galleries, floors, and even the stair- 
ways of the Senate chamber were crowded with people. 
Even the House of Representatives was deserted while its 
members eagerly came to hear the great orator. For hours, 
Mr. Webster held his audience spellbound. With all the 
power of his eloquence, with all the magnetism of his personal 
presence, he appealed to the loyalty of his hearers. His voice, 
now soft and musical, now deep and solemn, thrilled with the 
majesty of his theme. He closed his oration with these 
sublime words: 

"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last 
time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the 
broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; 
on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent 
with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! 

"Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold 
the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored 
throughout the earth, still high advanced, its arms and tro- 
phies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or 
polluted, not a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no 
such miserable interrogatory as ' What is all this worth ? ' nor 
those other words of delusion and folly, ' Liberty first and Union 
afterwards'; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of 
living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they float over the 
sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole 
heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every American heart — 
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" 

The effect of this splendid speech was wonderful. It 
voiced the loyalty of the North. It was read everywhere. It 



SENATOR 



20I 



was memorized and spoken by thousands of boys in northern 
schoolhouses. It was understood by the humblest voters. 
Without doubt this and other great speeches of Webster 
contributed largely to the moral strength and courage of the 
"boys in blue" during the long years of the Civil War. 

Webster had not only the mighty intellect and the musical 
voice of a great orator, but he had 
also an impressive physical pres- 
ence. He was, in youth, tall and 
slender, with dark eyes which 
seemed fairly to burn beneath the 
heavy brows; Carlyle called them 
"dull anthracite furnaces needing 
only to be blown." In his ma- 
turer years his stately form filled 
out; he was nearly six feet tall. 
His head was massive, and a 
broad, deep brow indicated the 
mental strength beneath. A 
sailor who saw him walking in the 

streets of Liverpool, England, said, "There goes a king." 
Wendell Phillips tells the story of his attending a Whig con- 
vention at a time when that party seemed about to disband. 
Rising in his seat, Webster said, " Gentlemen, I am a Whig, 
a constitutional Whig, a Massachusetts Whig, a Faneuil Hall 
Whig, and if you break up the Whig party, where, sirs, am I 
to go?" "And," says PhiUips, "we all held our breath won- 
dering where he could go. If he had been five feet three we 
should have said, 'who cares where you go.'" 

Like Clay, Webster had a worthy ambition to serve his 
country in the highest office within the gift of the people. 
Twice the nomination of his party for President seemed within 




Daniel Webster 



202 DANIEL WEBSTER 

his grasp, and twice it escaped him only to be given to men 
whose chief claim for distinction was their military renown. 
The cause of his defeat the second time was undoubtedly due 
to the position he took in supporting the Compromise of 1850. 

One of the provisions of that famous bill was with refer- 
ence to the return of slaves who had escaped from their 
owners. This unjust measure provided that an escaped 
negro could be arrested and, without a jury trial or an oppor- 
tunity to testify in his own behalf, could be returned to the 
person who claimed to be his owner. Sometimes, in its 
operation, even free negroes were kidnaped and carried back 
to slavery. This fugitive slave law w^as most unpopular in 
the North, and many people secretly aided runaway slaves in 
escaping to Canada. 

When Webster spoke in favor of this law he deeply offended 
his northern supporters. They felt that he had deserted the 
cause and the ideals of a lifetime. But we can see more 
clearly than our fathers did that the judgment then passed 
upon him was unjust; that his course at that time, as well as 
at all others, was guided by his love for the Union; that his 
object was peace and the burying of all sectional antagonism 
between the North and the South. He saw clearly that this 
attitude would alienate his friends, but he felt his duty to his 
country was greater than his desire to be President. His 
political career soon ended, and he retired to his home at 
Marshfield, Massachusetts, a broken old man. 

At Marshfield, Webster hoped to find rest and comfort in 
his old age. His home was a beautiful estate with its lawns 
sloping gently to the sea. Here for years he had been accus- 
tomed to come when wearied with affairs of state, and here 
he had lived the simple life of a farmer among his neighbors 
and friends. 



I 



COMPROMISE OF 1850 203 

He retained his boyhood love for nature, and would often 
be found wading the trout brooks in the vicinity, or sailing on 
the bay in front of his house. He was fond of his cattle, and 
prided himself on having the finest oxen in the state. 

In May, 1852, while driving, he was thrown from his 
carriage and severely injured. The wear and tear of half 
a century of public life left him no reserve of strength, and 
he failed rapidly. During his last illness, he suffered greatly 
from sleeplessness. He had a little boat on the pond back 
of his house, and by his orders an American flag was run up 
to the masthead and hghted at night by a ship lantern, so 
that his sleepless hours were comforted by the sight of the 
flag he loved. Feeling that his earthly career was soon to 
be finished, he awaited the end with Christian courage. 
Always a believer in God and in the divinity of Christ, he 
desired to leave some enduring record of his faith. Accord 
ingly, he prepared an inscription for his monument which 
reads, in part: 

"The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human 
production. This belief enters into the very depth of my 
conscience. The whole history of man proves it. 

'' Dan'l Webster." 

On the evening of the 23rd of October, 1852, he died, 
mourned by a whole nation. In his lifetime he had been 
very close to the hearts of the people, and they came from far 
and near to pay their last tribute of respect to his memory. 
One old man, bending over the casket, said pathetically, 
"The world without you, Daniel Webster, will be lonesome." 

In thinking of Daniel Webster, always remember his 
manliness and courtesy. In a time when political antago- 
nisms were bitter, when personal feeling ran high, Webster 
never forgot that he was a gentleman. Though attacked. 



204 . DANIEL WEBSTER 

and sometimes insulted by the press or by pob'tical opponents, 
he replied, if at all, with moderation. In the arrangement of 
his speeches for publication, he directed the omission of all 
passages in which he had spoken severely of others, even when 
those references were justly provoked by unfair attacks on 
his integrity as a man. He was indeed a great American, 
and the strength of our united nation is due to-day, in a 
large measure, to his eloquent defense of the Constitution 
and to his patriotic devotion to his country. 

Topical Outline. — Webster's rank as an orator. Webster's early 
home; New England ancestry; father and mother. His school and 
college days; love for his brother Ezekiel. Public career, as member 
of Congress and United States Senator. The Webster-Hayne debate; 
Webster as an orator; personal appearance. His attitude on the com- 
promise measures of 1850; loss of friends; return to private life; home 
at Marshfield; death. Traits of character. 

For Written Work. — I. Describe Daniel Webster's parents. H. How 
did Daniel acquire his love for reading ? for outdoor sports ? IH, Tell 
the story of Daniel's school days. IV. Who were the leading men in 
Congress during Webster's time? V. What were Webster's political 
views? VI. Name some of Webster's great speeches. VII. Describe 
the events leading up to his "Reply to Hayne." VIH. Describe Web- 
ster's personal appearance. IX. What is there in his character that you 
admire? X. How does Webster rank as an orator? "XL What was his 
influence upon the political life of the United States? 

Map Work. — Locate Franklin (Salisbury), and Hanover, N. H.; 
Portsmouth; Boston; Marshfield (p. 60). 

Memory Selection. — Last paragraph of the "Reply to Hayne." 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — Baldwin, "Four Great Americans," pp. 125-186; 
Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," pp. 37-48; Hart and 
Chapman, "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 28-31, 341-344. 



INVENTIONS AND INVENTORS 

After the Revolutionary War was over and the new gov- 
ernment was estabhshed, men began to give more attention 
to industrial questions. The country was in debt, and the 
taxes were necessarily heavy. Men tried to devise methods 
by which labor could be lightened and at the same time 
could bring greater profits. It is often called the period of 
inventions. Certainly some very important inventions were 
made in the last years of the eighteenth and the first part of 
the nineteenth centuries. Such inventions are quite as im- 
portant events in history as wars and elections, for in- 
ventions modify life and work, and history is really a 
record of the life and the work of the peo^ le of a nation. 

Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin 

Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts in 1765, so he 
was ten years old when the battle of Lexington was fought. 
His father was a small farmer. He also had a workshop, and 
in the winter made wheels and chairs, and did odd jobs of 
mending tools for his neighbors. The young boy liked to 
play in the shop. He not only learned readily the use of 
tools, but showed unusual mechanical genius. 

Once when Eli was twelve years old, his father was away 
from home for two or three days, during which time Eli made 
a fiddle. It was examined by many people, who pronounced 
it an excellent piece of work for a boy. The story is also 
told that about this time he took his father's watch to pieces 

205 



2o6 ELI WHITNEY 

and put it together again. He understood its mechanism so 
well that it kept as good time afterward as before, and his 
father knew nothing about it until some years later, when the 
boy told what he had done. 

At thirteen, Eli made some good knives. He was then 
repeatedly called upon by the family and by the neighbors to 
do all sorts of repairing of furniture, kitchen utensils, and 
farm tools. During the Revolutionary War, nails were 
very scarce. When fifteen years old, Eli told his father 
that he would make nails if the iron could be furnished. 
He turned out good nails made by hand, which were in 
such demand that he was obliged to employ extra help. 
When the war was over, making nails was no longer profit- 
able, so he turned his attention to the making of hat pins. 
The ladies were delighted, for his hat pins were better and 
cheaper than those in common use. 

He saved the money earned in these ways to go to college. 
In the fall of 1789 he entered Yale, and was graduated in 
1792, at the age of twenty-seven. He went to the South to 
teach, and soon became acquainted with the widow of Gen- 
eral Nathanael Greene, who was living at Mulberry Grove, 
near Savannah. Whitney was disappointed in his teaching 
venture, and Mrs. Greene offered him a home until he should 
find something to do. He made himself very useful in help- 
ing the children with their lessons, and in making and mend- 
ing many things with great ingenuity. 

From the time of the earliest settlements in the South, cot- 
ton had been raised. Recent inventions in England had in- 
creased the rapidity of spinning and weaving, and all the 
cotton raised found ready market, but the cost of cotton cloth 
was as great as that of silk cloth because of the difficulty of 
separating the cotton seed from the fiber, The fluffy white 



THE COTTON GIN 



207 



ball containing the cotton is called a boll, and sprinkled 
through it are the seeds of the cotton. Negro women were 
usually employed for removing these seeds, and the average 
day's work was the cleaning of one pound of cotton. The 
most skillful workman 
could clean no more than 
four or five pounds in a 
day, or a bale in three 
months. 

Some guests at Mrs. 
Greene's were discussing 
the question, when Mrs. 
Greene suggested that 
Mr. Whitney might be 
able to find some easier 
and quicker way of re- 
moving the seeds; "for," 
said she, "he can make 
anything." He was 
pleased with the idea, 
and eagerly set to work. 
He first made a careful 
study of the cotton boll, 
noting the number, size, 
and quality of the seeds. 
He then worked out the 
general idea of the cotton 
gin, which he first made 
on a small scale. 

He needed wire, but the kind he wanted could not be 
purchased in Savannah. Travel was too slow to send North, so 
he drew his own wire. Necessary tools also had to be made. 




liiii 



Eli Whitney at Work 



2o8 



ELI WHITNEY 




But he kept steadily at work and overcame all such obstacles. 
He was encouraged and helped by a neighbor, Mr. Miller, 
who was also a Yale graduate. 

Late in the winter of 1793 the model was completed; it 
was tested and worked well. The machine consisted of 
two cylinders four feet long mounted on a strong frame. 
Around one of these cylinders, which was five inches in 

diameter, were saws set 
one half inch apart, ris- 
ing two inches from the 
surface of the cylinder. 
As this cylinder revolved, 
the saws passed through 
corresponding slits too 
small for the seeds. The 
other cylinder had rows 
of stiff brushes. The cot- 
ton was put into a hopper 
where it was met by the 
saw-teeth on the revolv- 
ing cylinder and torn from 
the seeds, then swept from 
the teeth into a receptacle 
by the stiff brushes. 
Whitney and his friend 
Miller formed a partnership to get a patent, and to manu- 
facture and sell the machines. In great excitement men came 
to see the machine, but if it was to be patented it must not 
be shown. Some one broke into the workshop and stole one 
of the models. Then imitations appeared in various places, 
which caused Whitney a great deal of trouble. In fact, he 
never received just reward for his great invention. 



k^k; 




The Cotton Gin 

(A) Whitney's Original Gin; (B) A Later Form 



THE COTTON GIN 209 

The cotton gijn was a great gift to the southern states. It 
could be operated by one man and clean in one day looo 
pounds of cotton. Later, by using horse power, 5000 or 
6000 pounds could be cleaned in one day. That is, it multi- 
plied a man's labor a thousandfold. This led every one to 
raise cotton. Much of the work could be done by women and 
children and unskilled slave labor. Immediately, there was 
a great increase in the demand for slaves in all the cotton 
states. 

In a way, we can trace a direct connection between the 
invention of the cotton gin and the Civil War. The cotton 
gin on the other hand brought great prosperity, not only to 
the South but to the whole United States. It made cotton 
cloth cheaper, and in that way all poor people were benefited. 

Eli Whitney never personally profited by the invention, 
but later he made a large fortune in the manufacture of 
firearms. The best muskets used in the War of 181 2 came 
from Whitney's manufacturing estabhshment at New Haven, 
Connecticut. He died in that city in January, 1825, honored 
not only by all who knew him but by the country at large. 

Topical Outline. — Boyish ingenuity. Education; life in the South. 
Limits to profitable cotton raising. The cotton gin. The importance 
of the gin. Whitney did not profit by the invention. 

For Written Work. — I. Describe cotton growing, picking, and clean- 
ing. II. Describe in your own words the machine and how it worked. 

Elias Howe 

Methods of sewing are as old as clothing itself. What- 
ever the skin or fabric used, it had to be shaped and sewed in 
order to cover the body. To us of the twentieth century, it 
seems strange that for thousands of years no one found a way 
easier than sewing by hand; for the sewing machine was 



2IO ELIAS HOWE 

not used till about 1850. There are men living to-day who 
knew the inventor, Elias Howe. 

The first sewing was doubtless done by drawing a string 
or fibrous thread through holes punched in the fabric. The 
next step required a needle. This was first made of bone, and 
later of ivory. It was not until comparatively modern times 
that needles were made of steel. But even when a fine sharp 
needle and smooth thread had been found, the labor of 
making garments was very hard. Hood's poem was true of 
many a woman. 

"With fingers weary and worn, 
With eyelids heavy and red, 
A woman sits in unwomanly rags. 
Plying her needle and thread — 
Stitch! Stitch! Stitch! 
In poverty, hunger, and dirt." 

Unsuccessful efforts had been made before that of Howe, but 
the machines we use to-day are practically all outgrowths of 
his invention. 

Ehas Howe was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1819. 
He was one of eight children, all of whom had to go to work 
when quite young. He was never very strong, and that may 
explain why he was always trying to find an easier way to do 
his work than to obey orders. Such a disposition, however, 
has led to other great inventions. 

He married at twenty-one, and found it very difficult to pro- 
vide for his family on a dollar and a half a day. His young wife 
early took in sewing to help with the expenses. In the 
evening, after the children were put to bed, Howe used to 
lie on the couch, exhausted from his own day's work, and 
watch his wife sew. It grieved him, for he knew that her 
day, too, had been hard. It was then that his mind began 



THE SEWING MACHINE 



2X1 



to work out a plan for making sewing easier. In less than 
a year he had made a rude machine in which the needle 
was made to work in imitation of hand sewing. He saw 
that the method was clumsy, and decided that two threads 
must be run together. He then experimented with two 
needles, but later devised a shuttle to carry the lower 
thread, and a needle with the eye in the point to carry the 
upper thread. The first 
model on this plan was 
patented in 1845. 

The year and a half 
of experimenting had 
brought with it great 
sacrifice and suffering. 
His wages were small. 
He had three children. 
His health was poor. 
The only time he could 
spare was at night after 
his day's work was over. 
Every bit of wire or wood 
needed cost money. But still Elias Howe did not give up. 
Finally a friend named Fisher, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
lenic him $500 and gave him the use of his shop. This was 
a great favor, and Howe's final success was largely due to 
this generosity. 

Like so many other inventors, Howe suffered through the 
ignorance of the very people who would be benefited by the 
invention. He first offered it to the tailors of Boston. They 
would have nothing to do with the machine, and declared it 
would ruin their business. For over a year, he and Mr. 
Fisher tried to get people to use it, but all kinds of workmen 




Howe's First Sewing Machine 



212 ELIAS HOWE 

stubbornly refused. Finally, Howe went to England, and for 
eight months worked for an umbrella maker, who proved 
such a hard master that Howe decided to return home. He 
was obliged to pawn the model of his sewing machine to 
get money to pay his passage, and he reached America 
with only a dollar in his pocket. He found his wife very 
ill, and a few days later she died. 

It was not until 1854, ten years after he made his first 
machine, that fortune began to favor him. The ignorance of 
the people had been overcome. The machine was adapted to 
stitching leather as well as both heavy and hght weight 
fabrics. Many improvements such as hemmers, tuckers, 
etc., were added both by himself and by others. About 
three hundred modifications were patented between 1858 
and 1867. After Howe became prosperous, he helped many 
struggling inventors. When he died, at the age of forty- 
eight, he was not only a very rich man, but was honored 
by the people of both Europe and America. 

The sewing machine has been a great benefit to society. 
It has been adapted to a great variety of uses. It is easier and 
quicker to operate a machine than to sew by hand. This 
has so multiplied the output that whatever has been made by 
machine is much cheaper. So not only the immediate work- 
men, but every man, woman, and child has been benefited by 
the sewing machines. 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — Mowr}-, "American Inventions and Inventors," 
pp. 148-152; Hubert, "Inventors," pp. 69-99, 99-111; Williams, 
"Some Successful Americans," pp. 147-153. 



COMMERCE AND TRAVEL 

Robert Fulton and the Steamboat 

In the early days, travel either by land or by water was a 
slow process. A journey of days or weeks on foot was not 
unusual. The only other ways of land travel were by horse- 
back or by stagecoach. Horses on the roads in this new 
country could rarely make forty miles a day. The easier 
mode of travel, of course, was by water, and for that reason 
the new settlements were planted on the coast or on rivers. 
Canoes, made of light frames covered with bark or skins, 
were used on the small streams for short distances. Large 
boats were dependent on the wind. The early explorers 
had many sad experiences in being windbound. Drake's 
ship was once becalmed just off the harbor of Lima, and 
the ships of the Jamestown colony were held in sight of 
England for several weeks because of adverse winds. 

The Mayflower was nine weeks in crossing the Atlantic, 
and ten years later the Massachusetts Bay colonists were 
seventy-six days in traveling a distance that can to-day 
be covered in six days or less. This great change has come 
about largely through the work and genius of Robert Fulton. 

Robert Fulton was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, the same year that Eli Whitney was born. His parents 
were genial, hard-working Irish people. When Robert was 
three years of age, the father died, leaving a family of five 
small children. The mother was a thrifty woman, and the 
children were well cared for in spite of her very small income. 

MAK. & DEF. — 14 213 



214 ROBERT FULTON 

The boy went to school and learned the rudiments of reading, 
writing, and arithmetic. He -vyas not a brilliant pupil, but 
certainly a very bright boy, interested in the life about him. 
His mother went to the teacher one day and suggested that 
he be given harder tasks and be required to study more. The 
teacher replied that Robert himself had asserted that his 
brain was so full of original ideas that there was no room for 
the storage of the contents of dusty books. He was then ten 
years old. 

Like Whitney, he early showed mechanical genius. He 
made his own lead pencils at the age of ten. When he was 
thirteen, that is, in 1778, candles were so scarce in his home 
town because of the war, that the village officers forbade 
their use for Fourth of July illumination. Young Fulton 
invented a skyrocket as a substitute, saying that he would 
illuminate the heavens instead of the streets. 

He and another boy used to go fishing on the Conestoga 
River, but they found "poling" a flat-bottomed boat hard 
work. So they made a paddle wheel and fastened it to 
the boat. This w^as made to revolve by turning a crank. 
It worked well, and they considered it more satisfactory 
than "poling." Such a paddle wheel was also applied 
years later in Fulton's first steamboats. 

As a young boy, he showed skill in drawing. A neighbor, 
noticing this, gave him lessons in both drawing and paint- 
ing. At seventeen, Fulton went to Philadelphia, where 
in four years he earned enough money by painting pictures, 
not only to pay for his lessons and support himself, but 
also to buy a farm for his mother. The close application 
to work, however, during those four years, had been bad 
for his health. He showed symptoms of consumption, so 
his friends advised him to go abroad for travel. 



THE STEAMBOAT 215 

While in Philadelphia, he had become acquainted with 
Franklin, who was now in France. His old neighbor, the 
artist West, was living in England. Both men were fond 
of young Fulton and urged his visiting Europe; so in 1786, 
when he was twenty-one, he crossed the Atlantic. 

Although he supported himself by painting pictures, 
yet his mind moved and worked along lines of mechanical 
thought. His first inventions were a machine for saw- 
ing marble, one for spinning flax, and one for making 
rope. 

As Fulton was a boy during the days of the Revolutionary 
War, he heard much about military affairs. He was early 
familiar with all weapons, from the musket to the cannon, 
and with methods of defense and attack. This probably 
explains the fact that some of his early inventions were to 
make warfare more effective. He invented cable cutters, 
a torpedo, and a submarine or diving boat. The torpedo 
consisted of an oval copper case, charged with gunpowder. 
The explosion was regulated by clockwork that could 
spring the lock and fire the charge. It was not very suc- 
cessful in actual use, but the British were so afraid of it 
that they avoided boats or harbors supphed with Fulton's 
torpedoes. Fulton gave much thought to the construction 
of a vessel that might move beneath the surface of the 
water, — a submarine boat. He found difficulty in guiding 
such a boat and in giving it sufficient speed. It was then 
changed slightly, and was used as a diving boat to carry or 
explode the torpedoes. 

When Fulton was a Httle over thirty, while still in Europe, 
his thoughts took another turn, and he became interested 
in improving the means of travel and transportation. He 
worked out several improvements for canal boats and locks. 



2l6 ROBERT FULTON 

The steam engine was already known and used in many 
places. Several men had tried experiments with boats to be 
propelled by steam power. A man by the name of Fitch had 
come nearer success than had any other man. The attempts 
usually failed because the engine was too heavy for its motive 
power. The first boats had paddles or oars on each side to 
be moved or worked by the engine within. This was a 
heavy and clumsy affair, and if the boat did move there was 
little room left in it to carry anything. 

When Robert Fulton became interested in the subject, he 
introduced the paddle wheel which in his boyhood he had 
found so useful on his old fishing boat. The steam engine 
was used to turn this huge paddle wheel. The first boat of 
the kind failed, for the timbers used in the boat proper were 
not strong enough to hold the heavy machinery. The prin- 
ciple was good, so when the boat was rebuilt and other 
improvements were added, the result was a success. 

Fulton had been fortunate in his friends. Franklin had 
been of great help to him, and had made it possible for the 
young American to meet many men of science in Paris. 
But the best friend proved to be Robert Livingston, who 
before going to France had been interested in the subject of 
steam navigation. Livingston encouraged him and furnished 
money during the days of experimentation with the steam- 
boat on the Seine. 

Fulton returned to America in the fall of 1806, and immedi- 
ately secured a well-known shipbuilder to construct under 
his direction the first successful American steamboat. 
This ship, the Clermont, was finished in August, 1807. Few 
men thought that a ship could be moved by steam power. 
When the Clermont left the shipyard on the East River 
and crossed over to the Jersey shore, a crowd of curious 



THE STEAMBOAT 



217 



people were ready to jeer at Fulton and his "folly," as it 
was called. But instead of jeering, they were dumb with 
surprise when they saw it glide swiftly away. 

The first trip of the Clermont was from New York to 
Albany. In a letter to a friend, Fulton wrote as follows: 
"My steamboat voyage to Albany and back has turned out 
rather more favor- 
able than I had cal 
culated. The dis- 
tance from New 
York to Albany is 
150 miles. I ran it 
up in thirty-two 
hours and down in 
thirty hours. The 
power of propelling 
boats by steam is 
now fully proved." 
Men who owned the 
old-fashioned boats 
tried to wreck the 
new one, and in 
every way imagi- 
nable sought to de- ■ 

feat its success. ^^® Clermont, on its First Trip 

In spite of all opposition, soon after the trial trip it was run 
regularly between New York and Albany. Other boats were 
built and put into service, so that a little later one left each city 
each day. Steam ferryboats were soon constructed, and reg- 
ular lines were established between New York and Brook- 
lyn, and across the Hudson River. 

But the great inventor did not live to see the crossing of 




2l8 ROBERT FULTON 

the Atlantic accomplished by steam power. One stormy 
winter's day he took a severe cold superintending some work 
on a steam frigate, and a few days later, February 24, 181 5, 
at the age of fifty, he died. 

The first ocean steamer to cross the Atlantic was the 
Savannah, in 1819. From year to year improvements were 
made, and by 1840 steamship lines were running regularly 
between Europe and America. To-day the ocean steamships 
are floating palaces with electric lights and wireless tele- 
graph facilities. The average ship can carry 1600 people — 
some, as many as 3000, with a capacity of 10,000 tons of fuel 
and cargo combined. Many of these ocean liners cross in 
a week, the record time being about five days. Fulton 
would probably not be surprised at this, for he fully be- 
Keved in the almost unlimited possibilities of steam naviga- 
tion. 

In the fall of 1909, a celebration of two weeks was held 
in New York and in the towns along the Hudson River in 
honor of Fulton's invention. In the naval parade of this 
celebration was an exact replica of the Clermont. 



Topical Outline. — Boyhood ingenuity shown. Went to Phila- 
delphia and worked as an artist. Went to Europe. Early inventions. 
Steamboat experiments while in France. Clermont on the Hudson. 
Later boats. 

For Written Work. — I. Imagine that you stood on the wharf when 
the Clermont steamed away; tell why you were surprised. II. What 
are some of the benefits of steam navigation ? III. Why should a man, 
who spends much time, hard work, and money to make an invention, 
be permitted for a time to control the manufacture and sale of the thing 
invented ? 

Map Work. — Locate (p. 60) Lancaster (the chief city of Lancaster 
County, Pa.), Albany, New York; the Seine. 



the erie canal 219 

The Erie Canal — Clinton's Great Work 

After the War of 181 2 the territory north of the Ohio 
River was rapidly settled. The land was fertile, and much 
grain was raised for shipment to the East and to Europe. 
But the expense of transportation greatly reduced the 
profits. Much produce was sent down the Mississippi 
and sold in New Orleans for export. With the money thus 
gained some manufactured goods were bought and carried 
back up the river; but others were secured from New York 
or Philadelphia. Goods from Philadelphia were drawn by 
teams along the Pennsylvania turnpike to Pittsburg, and 
thence shipped down the Ohio. From New York goods 
were shipped up the Hudson, then carted from Albany to 
Buffalo over the Genesee turnpike, and again shipped on 
Lake Erie. 

These turnpikes were well-built roads kept in repair by 
tolls collected along the route. At convenient intervals were 
road houses, or inns, where teamsters could have meals or 
stay over night, and get fresh horses. Transportation 
companies controlled most of this work, and charged from 
five to eight dollars a hundredweight for carrying freight 
between Albany and Lake Erie. 

The time required for this trip was about three weeks, but 
in favorable weather it might fall a day or two short of 
this. In going west, the load consisted of clothing, furni- 
ture, tools, and manufactured articles of every description; 
on the return trip all sorts of farm products were sometimes 
carried. 

For years men talked of a canal along the route of the 
Genesee turnpike, as transportation by water had always 
been cheaper than by land. As early as 1808 Judge Foreman, 



220 



DE WITT CLINTON 



one of the founders of Syracuse, New York, suggested in the 
state legislature that a canal should be built connecting Lake 
Erie and the Hudson River, and James Geddes was directed 
to make a preliminary survey of the route. Later, the United 
States Congress was asked to build such a canal, and when 
they refused the people of New York were urged by De Witt 
Clinton to undertake the work. He was made chairman of a 
board of commissioners, and through his zeal the survey and 
preparations were rapidly pushed. Ground was broken at 
Rome, July 4, 181 7, and that fall Clinton was elected governor 
of New York. The people who voted for him voted for the 




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^ _>4 - * Ithaca I ^Y / • \ 

■^-^- ... E s ^ „: Yxx 

,tni]h,J.. ,^^y^^n. Painted PostW--^^^<2^^ .^nif!i«»2l2 f _/~^ Nf 

) 1 — !_A.then^ 



The Erie Canal 

canal, yet there was great opposition. He was ridiculed, 
and the canal was called " Clinton's Big Ditch." 

The Erie Canal is 363 miles long, and the original cost 
was $9,000,000. Boats carrying freight are drawn by 
horses or mules, but one team can draw a very much greater 
load than is possible with wagons. As soon as the canal 
was opened for traffic the freight charges were greatly 
reduced. Before the canal was built it cost $1.10 to carry 
a bushel of wheat from western New York to New York 
city, and the time taken to make the trip was about three 
weeks. After its completion the freight rate was reduced 



THE ERIE CANAL 221 

to forty cents a bushel and the time shortened to less than 
a week. The rate now is less than three cents a bushel. 

Water entered the Erie Canal October 26, 1825, and on 
that day a flotilla of gayly decked boats with distinguished 
men on board left Bufi"alo. The news was sent to New York 
in an hour and twenty minutes by the firing of cannon placed 
at intervals along the route. It may be of interest to know 
that many of the cannon were those captured by Perry in the 
battle of Lake Erie. The boat of honor in the flotilla was 
called the Seneca Chiej, and was drawn by four white horses. 
Another boat was known as Noah's Ark; it had on board a 
bear, a deer, eagles, various other birds, and two Seneca 
Indians in native dress. All along the way crowds of 
people cheered as the gay procession passed. At Albany, 
the travelers left the boats and went to the capitol, where 
speeches were made. In the evening there was a grand 
illumination in the city and at the water front. 

The next day the journey was resumed, and in twenty-four 
hours they had reached New York. Steamboats were used 
on the river, and some of the canal boats were towed by these. 
The flotilla was joined at New York by many pleasure 
boats, and they sailed down the bay to Sandy Hook, where 
the final ceremonies were to be performed. November 4 
was the wedding day of Lake Erie and the Atlantic Ocean. 

On board the Seneca Chief was a handsomely painted keg 
of water from Lake Erie. This Governor Clinton lifted into 
full view of the multitude of people, and poured its contents 
into the Atlantic, saying: "This solemnity at this place, on the 
first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to com- 
memorate the navigable communication which has been 
accomplished between our 'Mediterranean' seas and the 
Atlantic." A salute was fired, and other demonstrations 



222 



DE WITT CLINTON 




Ceremonies in New York Bay 

expressed the satisfaction of the people. The company then 
returned to New York city, where everybody was enjoying a 
hohday. A great street parade had lasted all day, and in the 
evening a banquet was held. The punch bowl used at this 
banquet is to-day in the City Hall of New York. 

The Erie Canal has returned to the people of the state 
many times the cost of its construction and maintenance. 
It turned the vast trade of the West toward New York 
city. All points along the line were benefited. The cities 
of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany grew very 
rapidly, and scores of thriving manufacturing towns sprang 
up along the banks of the canal. The central New York 
farmers were furnished a cheap means of marketing their 
produce. Passenger packets were a great improvement 
over the old stagecoaches for long distance travel. Soon, 
however, the railroads displaced them, for travel by rail was 
soon discovered to be much quicker. 



THE ERIE CANAL . 223 

To-day, people are interested in a barge canal, that is, 
one that will be deep enough to allow the lake steamers to 
pass through to New York, thus saving much expense in 
trans-shipment. Heavy freight, such as lumber and coal, 
is still carried on canal boats, but all perishable products 
and all fast freight go by rail. 

Topical Outline. — Old route from the West to the seaboard. Gene- 
see turnpike. De Witt Clinton believed that a canal should follow this 
route. State decided to build it. Completed October, 1825. Cere- 
mony at Sandy Hook. Benefits of the canal. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph to show that Ohio and 
Indiana were benefited as much as New York by the Erie Canal. 
II. Write a paper either for or against the barge canal. 

Map Work. — Trace the route of the Erie Canal and locate the promi- 
nent cities on the canal. 

George Stephenson and the Steam Railway 

While Robert Fulton's application of steam power to 
travel by water had been a great blessing, there was still 
need for improved methods of travel by land. Many men 
believed that in time steam would be used for this purpose, 
but the question was, how. Railroads had been used for 
various purposes for years. Such railroads consisted simply 
of a track; first the rails were of wood, and later of iron. 
Horses were used to draw wagons whose wheels fitted the 
rails. 

Steam engines had become useful for various kinds of 
work. It simply remained for some one to combine these 
elements into some practical form for travel and transporta- 
tion. The person who did this was the Enghshman, George 
Stephenson. 

He was born in Northumberland, England, in June, 1781. 



224 • GEORGE STEPHENSON 

His father was a poor laborer in a coal mine, and had a large 
family of children. Each boy- had to go to work at an 
early age, to help support himself and the younger children. 
At first, George earned about four cents a day watching 
cows, then he hoed turnips for sixteen cents a day. But 
such work did not last long at a time, so his father got 
a place for George as engine boy at the mine. At fifteen, he 
was made fireman. He liked the work and loved his engine 
so well that he did not want to leave it when working hours 
were over. The engine seemed like something alive. Its 
power fascinated the boy. While still a fireman he is said 
to have taken the engine all apart and put it together again. 
He was often asked to help the engineers at work on engines 
out of repair. All this prepared the way for his next pro- 
motion, when he became an engineer. 

He was a thrifty boy, saving money even on very small 
wages. Evenings after his day's work was over, he mended 
shoes and cleaned watches. His school days had been very 
few, and during the years from seventeen to twenty he used 
every spare minute for study. Often he had a book open be- 
side him at his engine, or in the evening while mending shoes. 
He showed great readiness in mathematics and science. 

In 1 8 14 a prize was offered for the invention of a safety 
lamp for miners. Stephenson knew the life of miners and 
knew well its dangers. He began to experiment, and soon 
devised a good safety lamp and offered it to the com.mittee. 
But just about the same time, Humphry Davy did the 
same thing, and the prize went to Davy. Both of their 
lamps, with sHght changes, are used in mines all over the 
world to-day. 

For several years Stephenson had put much time and his 
best thought on the question of travel by steam power on 



THE STEAM RAILWAY 225 

land. In 1814 he built his first locomotive. The machinery 
of a steam engine for drawing cars on a railroad must be 
arranged as compactly as possible. The boiler, which was 
erect in most engines of the day, he put in a horizontal 
position. His most serious problem was how to get up enough 
fire in the space that he could allow for a fire box. The first 
locomotive he built could produce only steam enough to draw 
itself. He studied this 

fire. It is this that 

causes the puffing of Puffing BiUy 

an engine so familiar to us all. That engine of his was named 
" Puffing Billy. " Puffing Billy had a drawing power of double 
its own weight at a speed of twelve miles an hour. It is the 
perfecting of this device that has made it possible to reduce 
the height of smokestacks on locomotives. 

There were still many difficulties in the way. Stephenson 
needed money, which he did not have. Before a railroad 
can be built, the privilege must be gained from the govern- 
ment, and the right of way must be granted by the people 
who own the land along which the road is to go. All classes 
of people tried to prevent the giving of these privileges. 
Writers in papers and magazines were against him. One 
said, ''What can be more absurd than the prospect held 
out of locomotives traveling twice as fast as stagecoaches? 
We should as soon expect the people to suffer themselves 
to be fired off upon a rocket as to trust themselves 



2 26 GEORGE STEPHENSON 

to the mercy of such a machine going at the rate of twelve 
miles an hour." Another said, "It is certainly all over with 
England, if she will allow herself to be converted into a 
gridiron and covered with tea kettles." Writers also 
declared that locomotives would kill the birds, prevent 
cows from, grazing and hens from laying, burn houses, and 
cause the extinction of the race of horses. 

Stephenson was called a maniac by some and a villain by 
others, — a maniac, because no sane man could think such a 
thing possible; a villain, because no honest man would so 
deceive the pubhc. 

Much of the surveying for the first road had to be done at 
night, because respectable people, as well as others, would, 
attack the men and prevent their working. The Stockton and 
Darlington Company was the first organized, and Stephenson 
was made engineer of construction. It was slow work, for the 
grading, track laying, and locomotive building were all under 
this one man's supervision. He was three years at work 
on this line of eight miles. One of the company became 
impatient and said to him one day, "George, you must 
get on with this railway faster and have it done by the first 
of January." 

"It is impossible," said Stephenson. 

"Impossible!" exclaimed the man, "I wish I could get 
Napoleon at you. He would tell you that there is no such 
word." 

"Don't speak to me of Napoleon. Give me men, money, 
and materials, and I will do what Napoleon couldn't do — 
drive a railroad train from Liverpool to Manchester over 
Chat Moss!" replied Stephenson. 

The first trip was made in September, 1825. Stephenson 
was in the engine as engineer. The train consisted of six 



THE STEAM RAILWAY 227 

wagons loaded with coal and flour, three coaches with the 
officers of the road, besides carriages having six hundred 
passengers crowded in and hanging on the outside. The 
speed was from four to six miles an hour. The next trip 
was made at fourteen miles an hour. This first run of eight 
miles proved to the public that steam travel by land was a 
success. 

Just after this trial trip a dinner was given to the great 
engineer, at which he made a speech, saying: "Now I will tell 
you that I think you will live to see the day when railroads 
will supersede all other methods of conveyance in this country; 
when mail coaches will go by railway, and railroads will 
become the great highway for the king and all his subjects. 
The time will come when it will be cheaper for a working 
man to travel on a railway than to walk on foot." 

George Stephenson for twenty years sacrificed personal 
comfort, worked hard, endured ridicule and bitter charges 
from his enemies to bring about better means of travel on 
land. He succeeded, and when he declined the offer of 
knighthood, he said success was reward enough for him. 

He built a great locomotive factory at Newcastle, and 
became a rich man. His son Robert continued the work 
and made many improvements on the early engines. 

America was not far behind England in railroad making. 
In 1828 the Baltimore and Ohio Company began to build a 
line, and two years later passengers were carried. Mean- 
while, the people of New York were becoming interested in 
this new method of travel, and in 1831 the Mohawk and 
Hudson Railroad began to carry passengers between Albany 
and Schenectady. The rails were at first wooden stringers 
covered on the top with iron straps, and it was not until 
some years later that all-iron rails were used. The first 



228 



GEORGE STEPHENSON 



locomotive in service on this road was called the ^'De Witt 
Clinton." A part of its driving wheel is in the possession 
of the Transportation Club in New York city. Other roads 
were soon built in the state; one extending from New York 
to Chatham on the eastern side of the Hudson River, others 
along the western bank of this river in the direction of 
Albany. These different roads gradually came under one 
management, and are now divisions of the great New York 
Central system. The first locomotives were brought from 
England, but before long those made in America were pre- 
ferred. In 1835 America had twenty- three railroads and 
over 1000 miles of track. 

Early locomotives were usually personified, and instead 

of numbers were given names, as, "Puffing Billy," "John 

Bull," and "The Best Friend of Charleston." They 

appear to have been chiefly smokestack and a little 

boiler. The most appar- 
ent change since has been 
a great reduction of the 
former and enlargement of 
the latter. The cab for the 
fireman and engineer has 
been added in place of the 
platform on which they 
formerly used to stand. 
At first the cars were just like stagecoaches. Year by 
year great improvements have been made in the cars, and 
on some lines to-day one can enjoy all the luxury and con- 
veniences of a perfectly furnished private house. As for 
speed, little more can be asked when it is possible to go from 
New York to Chicago, a distance of almost 1000 miles, in 
eighteen hours, or to San Francisco in less than five days. 




Early Locomotive 



THE STEAM RAILWAY 



229 



Topical Outline. — Boyhood of George Stephenson spent in the mines. 
Became a fireman and an engineer. Built locomotives. The opposition 
of the public. The trial trip; his prophecy; his great success. Early 
railroads in America. Travel by rail to-day. 

For Written Work. — I. Make a list of all the benefits you enjoy 
through the railroads. II. Describe your first ride on a train. 

Map Work. — Trace the routes of the early railways in New York 
state: Albany to Schenectady; New York to Chatham; New York to 
Albany. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Earle, "Home Life in Colonial Days," pp. 325-328; 
Earle, " Stage Coach and Tavern Days." 

Biography. — Hubert, "Inventors," pp. 45-69; Mowr)^, "American 
Inventions and Inventors," pp. 194-228; Hart and Chapman, "How 
Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 102-104. 




Chaise 



MAK. & DEF. 



15 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE FIRST AMERICAN 
Boyhood and Youth 

Before the Revolutionary War was over, many hardy 
frontiersmen and their families began to find their way 
through the mountain passes of the Alleghenies and to 
settle in the fertile country beyond. They were the van- 
guard of a great army of pioneers who peopled the Mis- 
sissippi valley. 

Among these emigrants was a family whose name, in the 
crude spelling of the times, was sometimes given as Linkhorn 
and sometimes as Linckorn. From this family was descended 
our great President, Abraham Lincoln, the man whom our 
poet Lowell has called "the First American." He was born 
in a rude log cabin and reared amid the humblest circum- 
stances. Yet he reached the highest position of dignity and 
honor, and is enshrined with Washington in the hearts of the 
American people. 

Abraham's father, Thomas Lincoln, was the son of a 
prosperous Kentucky pioneer who came from Virginia as a 
friend of Daniel Boone. 

He purchased large tracts of land in the new country, and 
was laying the foundation of an estate when he was killed by 
the Indians. His property was left mainly to the oldest son, 
and the youngest, Thomas, was left to shift for himself in a 
young and undeveloped country. Thomas Lincoln had no 
chance to get an education, but grew to be an honest and 
temperate man. He had some skill as a carpenter, but was 

230 



BOYHOOD 



231 



an indifferent farmer and seemed to care more for hunting 
and for a wandering existence. Indeed, through all his life 
he lacked ambition and the ability to conquer difficulties. 
In 1806 he was married at Beachland, Kentucky, to Nancy 
Hanks, a slender woman, of medium height, with dark hair 
and hazel eyes. She is said to have been of a sensitive and 
somewhat melancholy nature, qualities which her son Abra- 
ham inherited. She was also a woman of native refinement 
and of delicate instincts, a wild flower of the wilderness. 
Unlike most of her pioneer neighbors, she knew how to read 
and write, and taught her husband to write his name. 

Soon after his marriage, Thomas Lincoln moved to some 
land on Nolan Creek in Hardin County, and here on the 12 th 
of February, 1809, his son Abraham was born. Very few 
children to-day have houses as poor and as barren as the one 
to which this little baby came. It was built of logs or poles 
and was about fourteen feet square. The one room within 
had to serve the fam- 
ily for parlor, dining 
room, bedroom, and 
kitchen combined. 
The floor had no car- 
pet, but a bearskin 
v/as laid down in cold 
weather for the baby 
to play on. At one 
end of the room was 
an open fireplace with 
a huge chimney. Here Abraham's mother cooked their simple 
meals. There was an abundance of game such as venison, 
wild turkey, and pigeons, and these would be broiled over the 
hot coals or boiled in a large iron kettle hanging from a crane 




Lincoln's Birthplace 



232 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

over the fire. In the coals corn was roasted or corn cakes 
baked. A few pots and kettles and pewter plates were all the 
dishes they had. Their table was a board laid upon pegs 
driven into the wall. A skin of some wild animal would be 
hung across the doorway in cold weather to take the place of 
a door. Their chairs were blocks of wood or three-legged 
stools, and their bed was of poles covered with a bearskin. 

As the little baby learned to walk and play about the 
cabin, his mother made for him trousers of deerskin and a 
little jacket and shirt of coarse tow cloth which she had 
woven and spun. 

In this simple and primitive life, Abraham grew to be a 
sturdy boy. When he was four years old, his father moved to 
Knob Creek, and three years later he moved again. This 
time he crossed the Ohio and took up some land in Indiana 
near Little Pigeon Creek, a few miles north of the Ohio 
River. This was a wild and well-wooded region full of game, 
and here Thomas Lincoln thought he would be content to 
establish a home and rear a family. With little Abe's help 
he built what was called a " half faced camp." It was only a 
shed of poles, entirely open on one side. The crevices between 
the poles were filled with leaves and clay mixed together, 
while before the camp a great log fire was kept burning night 
and day. 

No road reached this rude home except the trail that 
Lincoln blazed through the woods, and the nearest neighbors 
were miles away. For a whole year they lived in this open 
camp while some ground was being cleared and a little crop 
planted. 

During the year, Thomas Lincoln built a log cabin of 
rough timber, without doors, floor, or windows. Into the 
half finished house, the family moved the next autumn. 



BOYHOOD 233 

They had the roughest of furniture. A log smoothed on one 
side was used as a table; the bedsteads were made of poles 
fastened to the wall and resting on forked sticks; the chairs 
were log blocks roughly hewn. As in the Kentucky home, 
there was a fireplace where the simple meals were prepared. 
The cabin had been built high, so that there was room in 
the loft. Little Abe's bed was in the loft, and each night 
he climbed a ladder made of pegs driven into the logs. 
His bed was not like those to which children to-day are 
used, for it was made in the rudest fashion with leaves or 
straw instead of springs, and with the skins of wild animals 
for coverings. But the Httle boy, nevertheless, slept 
soundly, for his Kfe in the open air, clearing the land or 
tilling the corn, made him so tired at night that any shelter 
seemed sweet. 

When Abraham was nine years old, a great sorrow came into 
his life. His mother, worn out by the privations and hard- 
ships of this frontier life, fell an easy prey to the malaria 
common in a new country. Her death, away from her child- 
hood home, with no friends near except her own family, 
seemed doubly sad. In a rough coffin which Thomas Lin- 
coln made from green lumber, she was buried near their 
cabin. There was no minister to read the burial service, and 
only the autumn wild flowers to cover the humble grave. 
Something of the loneliness of this touched little Abe's heart 
as he grieved for his gentle and patient mother. He thought 
of a friend who was a wandering preacher in their old home 
in Kentucky, and he wrote to this friend, whose name was 
David Elkin, asking him to come to Indiana and preach 
his mother's funeral sermon. So it was that some months 
later, David Elkin spoke a few words of comfort above 
the grave of Lincoln's mother. 



234 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

But there was soon to come into Abraham's Hfe a woman 
of a stronger nature, who had -much to do with shaping 
the character of the growing boy. This- woman was Sarah 
Johnson, a widow whom Thomas Lincoln married a few 
months after the death of his first wife. She braced up her 
shiftless husband, and made him complete the cabin which 
he had left half -finished so long. She was a blessing to the 
forlorn little family. With her accustomed thrift and 
energy she took charge of the children as well as the 
husband. She fed and clothed them well, and made them 
more comfortable than they had ever been before. 

She seems to have been especially fond of Abraham, and 
to have won his affection by her kindness and tender care. 
When Lincoln said, in after years, " All that I am or hope to 
be I owe to my angel mother," it is probable that he referred 
not to his own mother but to this woman who treated him 
with such motherly tenderness. It was to her, and not to his 
ignorant father, that he owed his scanty schooling. She 
kindled in him an ambition to make something of himself. 
She sympathized with his love for study and for reading. How 
well he repaid her for her kindly care is shown by what she 
said of him after he became famous: "Abe never gave me a 
cross word or look, and never refused to do anything I 
required of him. He was the best boy I ever saw." 

She insisted that he should be sent to school as soon as 
there was one to attend. Back in Kentucky he had occasion- 
ally in the summer days trudged with his sister to a school 
kept by Caleb Hazel. The master taught reading, writing, 
and ciphering after a fashion, but his chief qualification was 
his ability to. whip the big boys. 

The first Indiana school Lincoln attended was taught by 
Hazel Dorsey. It was a rough-hewn cabin with a floor of 



BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 



235 



split logs and with windows made by covering holes in the 
walls with oiled paper. The only desk was a shelf near the 
door where the children could stand and trace their copies. 
The benches were made of logs split in halves and mounted 
upon pegs. In this and in other rude schoolhouses, Abraham 
Lincoln got all the schooling he ever had. It was pitifully 
irregular, for he was often taken out to help with the farm 







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A Log Schoolhouse 

work. It was not always possible, either, in this wilderness 
country, to find a wandering schoolmaster who was able or 
willing to teach in the little log schoolhouse. 

In the winter of 182 2-1 823 Abe again attended school for a 
few months, and in 1826, when he was nearly seventeen 
years old, he saw his last school days under a master named 
Swaney, who held sway in a deserted cabin four and one 
half miles from Lincoln's home. In all, Lincoln's school 



236 Abraham Lincoln 

days did not exceed a year, under teachers who had scarcely 
more than the rudiments of education. So you see that 
Lincoln was correct when he described his early training 
in the brief statement, "Education defective." 

Had he been content with this, it is not probable that he 
would have risen much above the level of his boyhood com- 
panions. But in some mysterious way he had developed a 
passion for reading. Books in that frontier region were scarce, 
but such as he had or could borrow, Lincoln eagerly read and 
thoroughly learned. "iEsop's Fables" improved his native 
art of story-telling. " Robinson Crusoe," Bunyan's " Pilgrim's 
Progress," and especially the Bible, enriched his mind and 
formed his taste. A history of the United States, the " Life of 
Henry Clay," and Weems's "Life of Washington" gave him 
some knowledge of the history of our country and of its 
great men. 

The "Life of Washington" seemed to impress him more 
than the literary qualities of the work merited. It may be 
that he valued the book so highly because it was the first one 
he ever owned. He borrowed it from a neighbor and sat up 
late at night reading it by the light of a tallow candle. When 
the candle burned out, Abraham tucked the book into a 
crevice of the wall where it would be ready for him when day- 
light came. He was awakened by the patter of rain on the 
roof, and found that the storm had beaten into the crevice 
and damaged the book so that it could not be returned. Its 
owner agreed to give it to the boy in return for three days' 
labor. In this way, Abraham earned his first book. 

A boy who was willing to do this was sure to succeed in his 
efforts to get an education. It is not surprising, therefore, to 
find him eagerly reading whenever opportunity afforded, or, 
at night after the day's work was done, studying by the light 



BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 237 

of a log fire. Paper was scarce, so he used to write with chalk 
on the cabin walls, or figure with a bit of charcoal on the 
w^ooden fire shovel. This he could whittle clean and fill with 
figures, again and again. 

And so with much hard work, some study, and some play 
— for he was always fond of shooting, wrestling matches, 
and other rough frontier sports — Lincoln grew to young 
manhood. When he was nineteen years of age, he made his 




Lincoln studying by Firelight 

first trip to New Orleans on a flatboat. This long journey 
in a new country, among strange scenes and peoples, broad- 
ened his mind and added to the store of knowledge he was 
slowly accumulating. 

He continued to work for his father or for the neighbors 
until he was nearly twenty-one years of age. Then Thomas 
Lincoln, discouraged by another epidemic of malaria, and 
hearing of cheaper and more fertile lands toward the west, 



238 ^^IBRAHAM LINCOLN 

determined to move again. Packing all their household goods 
into a long covered wagon, with Abraham driving the oxen, 
they started on the tedious journey. After two weeks they 
reached Illinois and located on the Sangamon River, about 
ten miles west of Decatur. 

Abraham was now of age and his time was his own, but he 
remained to help his father get settled. He aided in clearing 
the land and in fencing a part of it with rails which he split 
from logs. He helped in building the new cabin home, and 
in planting the spring crops. Then he began to look for 
work for himself. But first of all he needed some clothes, for 
he still wore the buckskin garments of the frontiersman. So 
he bargained with a neighbor, Mrs. Nancy Miller, to make 
him a pair of trousers. He was to split 400 fence rails for 
every yard of "brown Jeans dyed with white walnut bark" 
she wove for the trousers. As he was unusually tall he had 
to split 1400 rails before the clothes were earned. 

He had at this time nearly reached his growth. Although 
very tall and slender, he had a rugged constitution. His out- 
door life gave him great strength, and his skill in boxing and 
wrestling was unusual even in a section where physical prow- 
ess was common. He earned a reputation for honesty, as 
well as for courage, and won friends readily in the new home. 
In 1 83 1 he made his second trip to New Orleans with a 
boat load of provisions and stock. It was at this time that he 
first came in close contact with the evils of slavery. He saw 
gangs of slaves chained and driven through the streets like 
cattle; he saw them cruelly whipped and sold in the slave 
market; he saw families separated and children heartlessly 
taken away from their parents. Naturally kind-hearted, these 
sights depressed him greatly, and he said to his companion, 
"If I ever get a chance to hit slavery, I'll hit it hard," 



BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 239 

After his return from New Orleans, Lincoln worked as a 
clerk in the village store in New Salem, Illinois. He soon 
became a favorite among the villagers. He was a famous 
story-teller, and his skill as a wrestler won for him the respect 
of the rougher element of the town. Here also he gained a 
reputation for uprightness and for square dealing in business 
matters, so that the people soon began to call him "Honest 
Abe." Without doubt, this title pleased him more than all 
the admiration of his physical strength. 

During his leisure hours, Lincoln continued his studious 
habits. He became interested in politics, and, in order to be 
able to speak and write correctly, determined to study gram- 
mar. The only text-book in the neighborhood was a copy 
of " Kirkham's English Grammar," owned by an old school- 
master who lived six miles out of town. Lincoln willingly 
walked there and back in order to borrow and study the 
book. 

In 1832 an Indian war under the leadership of the chief 
Black Hawk broke out, and Lincoln was made captain of 
a company of volunteers raised in Sangamon County to aid 
in subduing the Indians. The campaign was brief, and at 
its close Lincoln returned to New Salem. With a partner 
he opened a grocery store there. But this venture did not 
prove successful. His partner drank, and Lincoln's mind was 
on his studies more than on his business. So between the two 
men their enterprise was neglected, and soon failed. The 
partner died soon after, and left Lincoln responsible for the 
debts of the firm. They were so large that he afterwards 
referred to them as the ''national debt." It was not until 
many years afterward that he was able to pay the last of 
these debts. 

To support himself after the failure of the store, and to give 



240 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



him money to continue the study of law, Lincoln secured 
employment as a surveyor. He was also for a number of 
years postmaster at New Salem. In a barrel which he pur- 
chased while keeping 
store, he found a set 
of law books called 
Blackstone's "Com- 
mentaries." He be- 
came greatly inter- 
ested in these and 
in other law books 
which he borrowed 
from a friend in 
Springfield whom he 
had met during the 
Black Hawk War. 
In order to gain ex- 
perience in practice, 
he drew deeds, con- 
tracts, and other legal 
papers for his neigh- 
bors. He also con- 




Lincoln as Storekeeper 



ducted small cases in the justice's court, and, in due season, 
was ready to practice his profession. 

During this period of study and business, Lincoln showed 
an increasing interest in public affairs. It was a time when 
great issues in our national affairs were at stake. The Whig 
party was growing in power, and its leaders, Webster and 
Clay, were making eloquent speeches in the United States 
Senate in support of national unity. Lincoln, ever since his 
boyhood days, had been an admirer of Clay. That states- 
man's life was one of the first books he had read as a child, 



LAWYER 241 

and when he became a man he was an ardent admirer of the 
great Kentucky orator. The ''Louisville Journal," a paper 
controlled by Clay, was one of the influential newspapers of 
the West, and Lincoln was a constant reader of this journal. 
In this way he kept himself informed regarding the political 
questions of the day. He was naturally a politician, rather 
than a business man, and his friends showed their confidence 
in him by electing him four times to the Illinois legislature. 
His career as a legislator during these eight years was not 
especially important, although it gave him an opportunity 
to take a courageous stand against slavery. The legislature 
passed a strong proslavery resolution against the opposition 
of Lincoln and one other member. In the protest which he 
signed, he said that he believed the institution of slavery to 
be founded on both injustice and bad policy. Thus early 
in his public career he took a firm stand on the right side of a 
great moral issue. 

LINCOLN THE LAWYER 

During his legislative career, Lincoln removed to Spring- 
field, the capital of the state. Here he formed a law partner- 
ship, under the firm name of Stuart and Lincoln, with the 
friend who had helped him in his legal studies. Both men 
were well known in that section, and they soon built up a fine 
practice. Stuart was actively engaged in political matters, 
and left much of the law business of the firm to his partner. 
Lincoln's success as a lawyer was due to his absolute honesty 
and the confidence in him which this trait inspired, rather 
than to any profound knowledge of the law. He would refuse 
any case that he believed to be wrong. Often after he had 
commenced a suit, when he found that the law or the evidence 
was on the other side, he would withdraw from the case. A 



242 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

fellow lawyer said of him, "Love of justice and fair play was 
his predominant trait. It was uot in his nature to assume 
or attempt to bolster up a false position; he would abandon 
his case first." 

It is not strange, therefore, that he became known through- 
out the state, as he had been known in the little village of 
New Salem, as "Honest Abe." The firm of Stuart and Lin- 
coln was dissolved after four years, and Lincoln in 1843 took 
William H. Herndon as his partner. This firm remained in 
existence until Lincoln's death. For years much of their 
practice was in the circuit courts which the judges held in 
different parts of the state. In order to try their cases, the 
lawyers traveled from place to place as court was moved. 
This was called " riding the circuit." Lincoln, with the others, 
was accustomed to do this year after year, and in this way 
built up a large acquaintanceship throughout the state. Cir- 
cuit riding in those days was not an easy task. The roads 
in stormy weather were almost impassable; sometimes there 
were only trails; the streams were without bridges and often 
swollen; and the accommodations at the country taverns were 
meager. But these experiences in a new country brought 
him home to the hearts of the common people. He knew them, 
for he was one of them, and this knowledge helped to guide 
him when he became their great leader. 

Many stories are told of his kindness of heart at this period 
as well as throughout his life. He sympathized with the 
unfortunate and the oppressed. He often took cases when 
he had no expectation of being paid a fee. He could be as 
tender as a woman to misfortune and suffering. He was 
fond of children and dumb animals, once even going out of 
his way to put some young birds back in their nest. One of 
his most eloquent appeals for justice was in a suit where he 



LAWYER , 243 

prosecuted a pension agent for cheating a poor widow. 
Some one has said that "No one ever accused him of taking 
an unfair or underhanded advantage in the whole course of 
his professional career." 

It seems strange that such a tender-hearted and kindly 
natured man as Lincoln could not have won complete happi- 
ness for himself. But he was given to fits of brooding and of 
melancholy, and through all his life was a lonely man among 
a multitude of friends. 

In 1842 Lincoln met and married Mary Todd. He was 
a faithful husband and a good father, but his wife never 
fully understood him, and his home life was full of trials. 
Their home in Springfield was an ordinary frame house, 
where they lived simply and quietly. Indeed, even to the 
time that he was elected President of the United States, 
Lincoln did all of the outdoor work about the place — 
milked the cow, cared for the horse, and chopped the wood 
for the kitchen fire. His life was in no way different from 
that of his less noted neighbors. His dress was as simple as 
were his habits of life. In cold weather he wore an old gray 
shawl about his shoulders. The nap on his "stove pipe" 
hat was usually rubbed the wrong way, and his boots were 
unpolished. He often carried a faded green umbrella with 
a string tied about its middle. As he rode the circuit in his 
old open buggy or on horseback, he carried his legal papers 
in the pockets of his saddle, or in a dilapidated carpetbag. 

But with all this uncouthness of dress and of manner, 
there was an unselfishness and a gentleness in his homely 
and rugged face that drew all men to him. And when, in after 
years, the burdens and the sorrows of the Civil War were thrust 
upon him, his countenance seemed to reflect all the pity and 
the pathos of that dreadful struggle. 



244 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



LINCOLN THE POLITICIAN 



Lincoln had gained some experience in political life during 
the eight years he served in the Illinois legislature. After its 
close he continued to practice law at Springfield until, in 1846, 
he was elected to Congress. Here he gained some reputation 
as a clear and logical speaker, as a loyal member of the Whig 
party, and as an opponent of the extension of slavery. He 
took the position that the Mexican War, then being fought, 
had been forced upon Mexico by the President solely for the 
purpose of acquiring more slaveholding territory. In his 
famous "Spot Resolutions," he called upon the President 
to put his finger on the spot where, as the President said, 
Mexico had shed American blood upon American soil. He 
voted also in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, a measure 
intended to prohibit slavery in any territory acquired 
from Mexico. 

Returning to his home after this term in Congress, Lin- 
coln says of himself, "I was losing interest in politics when 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again." 
You have been told in the life of Henry Clay what this meas- 
ure was and how it was expected to settle forever the question 
of the extension of slavery. But the thirty years following its 
adoption were years of marked western expansion. Great 
tides of emigration flowed largely from the northern states 
into the territory west of the Mississippi River. This was 
especially true after the discovery, in 1848, of gold in Cal- 
ifornia. The southern statesmen had hoped that most of the 
territory won from Mexico at the close of the Mexican War 
would become slaveholding states. In this, however, they 
were disappointed, for the greater number of the western 
pioneers were northern men, and opposed to the institution of 



POLITICIAN 245 

slavery. So when California, in 1850, sought admission 
into the Union as a free state, the southern members of 
Congress were bitterly opposed. Clay's Compromise Bill 
of 1850 aimed to quiet this discord and to satisfy both 
sections by admitting California as a free state, and by 
providing that the other land acquired from Mexico should 
be organized as territories without any reference to the 
question of slavery. This meant that the settlers there 
would be free to decide the matter for themselves when the 
time came for the creation of states from these territories. 

Neither the North nor the South was satisfied with this 
measure. It left the question of whether slavery was morally 
and economically right or wrong as much unsettled as it had 
been before. The agitation was renewed when Stephen A. 
Douglas, in 1854, introduced in Congress a bill to organize 
two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, out of that great 
section of the Louisiana Purchase north of the parallel of 
36° 30', and west of the states of Missouri and Iowa. This 
measure, known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, swept away 
all the restrictions regarding slavery which were contained 
in the Missouri Compromise. It established the doctrine 
of state sovereignty — that a state might decide for itself 
whether it would be a free or a slaveholding state. 

Immediately after the passage of the bill, a struggle began 
between the North and the South for the possession of Kan- 
sas. Each side tried to get a majority for the first territorial 
election there. Slaveholding settlers, "border ruffians" 
they were sometimes called, from Missouri and other 
southern states, crossed over into the territory. In the 
North, too, emigration societies were formed to raise money 
and to hurry settlers to Kansas. Among these emigrants 
was one John Brown and his stalwart sons, all haters of 

MAK. & DEF. — 16 



246 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

slavery, and destined to become famous at Harpers Ferry 
in 1859, when they seized the United States arsenal there 
and endeavored to arouse a rebeUion among the slaves in 
Virginia. It is not strange that these two classes of settlers 
soon clashed, and that a very bitter and bloody little war 
broke out in Kansas between them. The struggle lasted 
for years, but in the end Kansas was admitted as a free 
state. 

Bitter feeling was also greatly intensified by the attempt 
during these exciting years to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. 
This was a law of Congress by which negroes who had escaped 
could be arrested and returned to their owners. Several of 
the northern states refused to allow this law to be enforced 
within their borders, and abolitionists aided runaway slaves 
to escape into Canada by means of the so-called underground 
railroads. Then came the famous Dred Scott decision of 
the United States Supreme Court. Scott was a negro who 
had been taken by his master from Missouri, a slave state, 
into a free state. Upon their return to Missouri, Scott sued 
for his freedom on the ground that having lived in a free 
state he was a free man. The court decided against him, 
and the decision meant, of course, that southern slaveholders 
could take their negroes anywhere in the Union and still hold 
them as slaves. Such an interpretation of the law alarmed the 
northern people greatly, for it meant, if put into practice, the 
indefinite extension of slavery. 

These vital issues which tried men's souls served also to 
break down old party lines. The Whig party, some one 
humorously said, " died of an attempt to swallow the Omnibus 
Bill," as the Compromise of 1850 was sometimes called. Its 
neutral attitude regarding the extension of slavery pleased 
neither its northern nor its southern members. New parties 



POLITICIAN 



247 



such as the "Free Soilers," the "Anti-Nebraska Democrats," 
and the "Americans" sprang into hfe. 

Gradually these organizations drew more closely together. 
They differed in minor matters, but had a common bond of 
sympathy in their opposition to the further extension of 
slavery. So from these various elements the Republican 
party was formed. It grew rapidly, and in the election of 
1856, the first presidential campaign in which it engaged, 
polled over a million votes. 

In Illinois, Abraham Lincoln at once became the recog- 
nized leader of the new party, and was its candidate for 
United States Senator from that state. In the speech which 
he made, upon accepting the nomination, he said regarding 
the preservation of the Union, "'A house divided against 
itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot en- 
dure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect 
the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall 
— but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become 
all one thing or all the other." 

Then followed a masterly statement of the principles of his 
party and a review of the measures by which the proslavery 
statesmen sought to dominate the pohtical life of the nation. 
In closing, he voiced his belief in the justice of his cause and 
in the ultimate success of the right. "The result is not 
doubtful," he said; "if we stand firm, we shall not fail — 
sooner or later the victory is sure to come." 

His opponent in the campaign which followed was Stephen 
A. Douglas. During the campaign, the rival candidates 
spoke in a series of joint debates throughout the state of 
Illinois. The "Lincoln-Douglas Debates," as they were 
called, are perhaps the greatest series of campaign speeches 
the political history of this country has known. Douglas 



248 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



was the most brilliant leader in the Democratic party. He 
was a man of national reputatipn, of charming personality, 
a successful politician, and a skillful debater. Mr. Lincoln, 
on the other hand, lacked most of the characteristics of a 
great orator. He was tall and awkward, and his voice was 
shrill and piping. But his intense earnestness, his simple 
yet resistless logic, and his belief in the righteousness of his 
cause, carried conviction to the minds of his hearers. 

In one of the debates, Douglas asserted that the Declara- 
tion of Independence did not 
include the negroes when it 
declared that " all men are cre- 
ated equal." Lincoln reply- 
ing said : " I do not understand 
the Declaration of Independ- 
ence to mean that all men 
were created equal in all re- 
spects. They are not equal in 
color. But I believe that it 
does mean to declare that all 
men are equal in some re- 
spects; they are equal in their 
right to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness." Blaine said that Lincoln did not seek 
to emphasize in these speeches the thing that was for the day 
only, but the thing which would stand the test of time and 
square itself with eternal justice. 

As a result of the campaign, Douglas was elected to the 
Senate. But these debates gave Lincoln a wide reputation 
as an orator and statesman. To this reputation he added 
afterwards by some masterly speeches in New York and in 
other eastern cities. He became a figure of national impor- 




Stephen A. Douglas 



PRESIDENT 249 

tance, and was looked upon by many as an available candidate 
for the Presidency. 

LINCOLN THE PRESIDENT 

Lincoln was soon to reap his reward for his forceful state- 
ment of lofty moral principles, for when the time came, in 
i860, to elect another President, the Republican party pre- 
sented his name as its candidate. The Democrats were 
hopelessly divided, and the Republicans had high hopes of 
success at the polls. The people of the South feared Lin- 
coln's election, for they had gained the impression that he 
and the party he represented were pledged to the abolition of 
slavery, and they felt that this meant ruin for them. That 
they were mistaken in their conception of Lincoln's attitude 
is certain. He was determined to save the Union at any 
cost, and to prevent the further extension of slavery, but he 
expressly and repeatedly stated that he did not intend to 
interfere with slavery in the states where it was already 
established. However, this misconception of Lincoln's at- 
titude was only one of the causes for the differences of 
opinion between the two great sections of our country. 

Most of the commercial activity and business enterprise 
was centered in the northern and central western states. 
The South, on the other hand, with its great resources of 
mine and forest undeveloped, was essentially an agricultural 
country. 

The doctrine of state rights had for years been instilled 
into the minds of the southern people by their leaders, while 
the North believed more firmly than ever before in the sacred- 
ness and integrity of the Union under the Constitution. In 
social conditions, in systems of labor and education, and in 
policies of government, the two sections had never been in 



250 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

harmony, and the breach rapidly widened after Lincoln's 
election. Some of the southern, states threatened to secede 
if Lincoln were chosen President, and immediately they pro- 
ceeded to carry out this threat. 

South Carolina, always the foremost advocate of state 
rights, was the first to act. In December, i860, she declared 
that she no longer owed allegiance to the United States. 
Other southern states soon followed, and in February, 1861, 
formed at Montgomery, Alabama, the "Confederate States 
of America." The states thus in rebellion were South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Texas. To these were added, later. North Carolina, Ten- 
nessee, Virginia, and Arkansas, making eleven states in re- 
bellion. The break which men had feared so long had come ! 
The day for compromise was past! Henceforth the great 
issues that had been so bitterly discussed in legislative 
halls and in the press, were to be fought out in the field. 
It was to be now an appeal to arms and to the God of battles. 

Although Lincoln had been elected in November of i860, 
it was not until March of the following year that he was 
inaugurated. In the meantime, the rebellious states actively 
prepared for war. United States arsenals and arms were 
seized, troops were raised, and fortifications prepared, while 
the northern government made no effort to protect itself. 

Lincoln remained quietly at home, waiting for the time 
when, as President of the United States, he would endeavor 
to preserve the Union. On the day before he left Springfield 
for Washington, he went to his office to say good-by to his 
partner. When the time came for them to part, he said to 
Mr. Herndon, "Billy, how long have we been together?" 

"Over sixteen years," he answered. 

"We've never had a cross word during all that time, 



PRESIDENT 251 

have we?" said Lincoln. Then he asked that the office 
sign which hung on its rusty hinges at the foot of the stairs 
be undisturbed, saying, "The election of a President makes 
no change in the firm of Lincoln and Herndon. If I live, 
I am coming back sometime, and then we'll go right on 
practicing law as if nothing had happened." 

The next day he left his home to assume responsibilities 
greater than any which had ever before confronted a Presi- 
dent of the United States. But he did not falter in his task, 
nor fail in any way to do his duty. The solemn oath he 
took on the 4th of March, 1861, to uphold the Constitu- 
tion and to preserve, protect, and defend the government, was 
never broken. When actual war was begun by the attack 
upon Fort Sumter, a fort held by United States troops in 

h 




Fort Sumter 

the harbor of Charleston, S. C. (April 12, 1861), he called 
for seventy-five thousand volunteers to suppress the re- 
bellion and to enforce the laws. The response was in- 
stantaneous. When the news flashed over the wires that 
the American flag hud been fired upon and that Fort 
Sumter had fallen, the whole North was aroused. The 
men whom southern politicians said were too selfish or too 
cowardly to fight, rushed by thousands to uphold the Stars 
and Stripes. 



252 



BRAHAM LINCOLN 



Both sides in their enthusiasm thought that the war would 
be of short duration, each underestimating the strength and 
determination of its opponent. The South, impatient to end 
the war, urged its soldiers to press forward and capture Wash- 
ington. The North, also confident of victory, cried, "On 
to Richmond! On to Richmond!" It was not until the two 

armies met on the 
field of Bull Run and 
measured each other's 
strength that they 
realized the desperate 
character of the 
struggle. The Union 
troops, defeated in 
this battle, were driv- 
en back upon Wash- 
ington. Congress, 
alarmed at the dis- 
aster, awoke to the 
fact that more troops 
were needed; that it 
took time to equip and 
discipline an army. 

Country around Washington • ^^ ^^^^ CongresS 

voted to raise five hundred million dollars and five hun- 
dred thousand .men for three years or until the war was 
ended. As the soldiers enlisted and marched to the front in 
response to their country's call, there rose from village and 
farm, from every city and town the stirring battle cry, "We 
are coming, Father Abraham, five hundred thousand strong!" 
Plans for the prosecution of the war were gradually shap- 
ing themselves under the direction and guidance of Lincoln, 




THE CIVIL WAR 



253 



As commander in chief of the army and navy, he had charge 
of the selection of officers, the maintenance of the army, and 
the general military movements. There was to be a three- 
fold campaign: First, the Mississippi was to be opened and 
the Confederacy split in half. Second, Richmond was to be 
attacked. Third, the southern seaports were to be blockaded 
in order that the South might not send its cotton to Europe and 




The Merrimac and the Monitor 

receive in return money and supplies from foreign ports. 
Grant accomplished the first of these objects in 1863, when 
Vicksburg surrendered to him; Richmond did not fall until 
the war was practically ended; but the blockade was immedi- 
ately effective. 

The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac was an 
interesting incident of this blockade. It was important, also, 
because it revolutionized naval warfare. A fleet of wooden 



254 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

warships was stationed in Hampton Roads, at the mouth 
of the James River. Against them the Confederates sent the 
Merrimac, a wooden vessel sheathed with iron plates and 
fitted with a huge iron prow. Shot and shell had no 
effect against the monster "ironclad," and she was rapidly 
making havoc with the Union fleet, when the Monitor ap- 
peared. This strange looking craft was a new Union " iron- 
clad," invented by John Ericsson and recently completed in 
the Brooklyn navy yard. She was simply a hull with a re- 
volving tower in the center, protected by heavy armor plate. 
The Confederates called her in derision the "Yankee cheese 
box," but in the sea duel between the two monsters, the 
Monitor drove the Merrimac to shelter, saved the rest of the 
Union fleet, and maintained the blockade. 

After a second victory at Bull Run, the Confederates deter- 
mined to invade the North. The Union general, McClellan, 
had failed in what is known as the Peninsular Campaign, 
and the Confederate troops, flushed with victory, pressed 
forward eagerly into Maryland. Here at Sharpsburg, on 
Antietam Creek, a battle was fought (September 17, 1862) 
and their advance checked. President Lincoln awaited the 
result of this battle with intense anxiety, for he felt that it 
might decide the fate of the Union. He saw that the people 
of the whole country now realized — as he had long ago — ■ 
that the evil of slavery was at the root of the rebellion. 
Lincoln said he had promised God that if the Union forces 
were victorious at Antietam, he would free the slaves. Accord- 
ingly, on the first of January, 1863, Lincoln issued the Eman- 
cipation Proclamation, proclaiming all the slaves in the states 
then in rebellion, free. This historic measure made Lincoln 
immortal, and hastened the end of the war. 

The two great military events of 1863 were the surrender 



THE CIVIL WAR 



255 



of Vicksburg and the defeat of the Confederate army under 
Lee at Gettysburg. Both occurred at almost the same time, 
early in the month of July. How the capture of Vicksburg 
was accomplished, and how it brought to the front a new 
military leader, will be told more fully in the life of Grant. 
The battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the war. 
Never again, after Gettysburg, did Confederate armies 
seek to invade the North. Step by step, losing ground 




Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet 

day by day, they fought, now always upon the defensive, 
until they surrendered at Appomattox (April 9, 1865) and 
the war was ended. 

It had been a terrible struggle. For four long dismal years, 
the brave men of the South and of the North had fought, 
each section beHeving in the righteousness and justice of its 
cause. Through it all, our great President had borne the 
burdens of his high office with patience and with a stead- 



256 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



fast courage. '^With malice toward none and with charity 
for all" he followed the path t)f duty until he saved the 
nation. His clouded brow relaxed, his wearied face grew 
calm as he looked forward to the days of peace. Already 
his great heart was planning to bind up the nation's wounds 
and to establish firmly a reunited country, when the end 
suddenly came. On the evening of April 14, 1865, as 
Lincoln sat with his wife in a box in Ford's Theater in 

Washington, he was shot 
by an assassin. The bul- 
let, passing through the 
brain, left him uncon- 
scious, and he died the 




Flags that had been 
flying in triumph were 
lowered to half-mast in 
sorrow. Amid the tears 
Ford's Theater, Washington of the nation and the pro- 

found grief of the world, he was laid to rest in his old home 
at Springfield. In his death, the nation lost its greatest 
hero; in his death, the South lost its most just friend. His 
life is an inspiration to humanity. Roosevelt voices its les- 
son to America when he says, " All of us alike. Northerners 
and Southerners, Easterners and Westerners, can best prove 
our fealty to the Nation's past by the way in which we do the 
Nation's work in the present: for only thus can we be sure 
that our children's children shall inherit Abraham Lincoln's 
single-hearted devotion to the great unchanging creed that 
'righteousness exalteth a Nation.' " 

Topical Outline. — Lincoln's early life; his ancestry; his homes; 
his schools; the influence of his stepmother upon his career. Lincoln's 



CIVIL WAR 257 

life in Illinois; his trips to New Orleans; his studies and occupations; 
how he fitted himself for public affairs. Lincoln the lawyer and poli- 
tician: legislative career; professional and home Ufa at' Springfield; 
service in Congress. Lincoln the statesman and hero: growth of 
slavery agitation; measures which aroused the North; the Lincoln- 
Douglas debates; Lincoln's election as President; why the North and 
the South failed to understand each other; Civil- War; death. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a story about Lincoln's early life 
in Illinois. II. Imagine yourself a playmate of Lincoln's; tell the story 
of a day's visit at his home. III. Describe the Lincoln-Douglas 
debates, or describe the sea-duel between the Merrimac and the Monitor. 
IV. What was Lincoln's greatest act as President? V. Why do you 
admire the character of Lincoln ? 

Map Work. — Locate Springfield, Illinois (p. 304) ; Fort Sumter, 
Washington, Richmond, Antietam, Hampton Roads, Gettysburg. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Hart and Stevens, "Romance of the Civil War," pp. i- 
112; Kieffer, "Recollections of a Drummer Boy." 

Biography. — Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," 
pp. 193-210; Baldwin, "Abraham Lincoln"; Brooks, "True Story of 
Lincoln"; Tarbell, "Life of Lincoln"; Moore, "Life of Lincoln"; Tar- 
bell, "He Knew Lincoln"; Lincoln, Last Paragraph of Second Inaug- 
ural; Nicolay, " The Boy's Life of Abraham Lincoln "; Cravens, " Story 
of Lincoln." 

Poetry. — HowQ, "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; Whittier, "Bar- 
bara Frietchie"; Markham, "Lincoln, the Great Commoner"; Whit- 
man, "O Captain, My Captain "; Stevenson, " Poems of American His- 
tory." 

Fiction. — Churchill, "The Crisis"; Butterworth, " Boyhood of Lin- 
coln "; Andrews, " The Perfect Tribute "; Gerry, " The Toy Shop." 



GRANT, THE SILENT LEADER 

Hiram Ulysses Grant, the great commander of the Civil 
War, was of New England descent. His ancestors, for gener- 
ations, had been sober. God-fearing people, of simple habits 
and of sturdy courage. There had been soldiers and pioneers 
among them, brave men and loyal women, sound stuff out of 
which to build a nation. On his mother's side was good 
Scotch blood. Indeed, many of the qualities of mind which 
made him famous, he inherited from his mother. The Grant 
home was at Point Pleasant, on the Ohio River, near Cincin- 
nati. 

Here on April 27, 1822, the subject of this sketch was born. 
His father, Jesse Grant, was a farmer and tanner in comfort- 
able circumstances. The year after the birth of Ulysses, the 
family moved to Georgetown. Mr. Grant prospered in the 
new home and lived there many years. Life in this Ohio 
village then was not much different from what it is to-day in 
thousands of quiet villages throughout the country. There 
was no great wealth in the community, nor was there extreme 
poverty. Every one lived simply and quietly. Among such 
fortunate surroundings, Grant's boyhood days were spent. 

He grew to be a sturdy, self-reliant lad. attended school 
regularly, and was taught to do his share of the daily work at 
home and on the farm. He says of himself, "When I was 
seven or eight years of age, I began hauling all the wood used 
in the house and shops. When about eleven years old, I 
was strong enough to hold a plow. From that age until 

258 



BOYHOOD 



259 



seventeen, I did all the work done with horses. I did not 
like to work; but I did as much of it as grown men can be 
hired to do in these days, and attended school at the same 
time." His sports were equally simple and wholesome. Fish- 
ing, hunting, and swimming in the summer, and skating and 
sleighing in the winter, made the days and years pass swiftly 
and happily. Even as a child he knew and loved horses, and 
spent many of his leisure hours on horseback, riding usually 
without a saddle. His parents governed him kindly but 
firmly, and he was always an obedient son. This home 
training and this outdoor life made him a clean-minded, 
strong-muscled boy ready for the work of a man. 

When Ulysses was seventeen years of age, his father ob- 
tained for him an ap- 
pointment as a cadet in 
the United States Mili- 
tary Academy at West 
Point. The boy did not 
want to go, but obeyed 
his father. When he ar- 
rived at the Academy he 
found that, through an 
error, his name had been 
given in the papers filed 
with his appointment, as 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 
After trying for some 

time to have this mis- Grant at West Point 

take righted, he adopted the new name, and used it there- 
after. 

During the four years at West Point, young Grant did not 
distinguish himself as a student, except in his mathematical 




26o GRANT 

studies. His early experience with horses, however, now 
proved valuable, and he becama one of the expert horsemen 
among the students. 

In 1843 Grant finished his military training and began his 
service as a second lieutenant in the regular army. He was 
stationed at Jefferson Barracks near the city of St. Louis, and 
entered at once upon the routine of garrison duty and camp 
life. It was not long, however, before he was called upon for 
more active service. Texas had seceded from the republic of 
Mexico, and had formed an independent government. In 
1845 the "Lone Star Repubhc," as she was called, was 
admitted into the United States. But in the annexation of 
Texas we annexed also her quarrel with Mexico over the 
boundary line between the two countries. Troops were 
ordered to the frontier, and before long, war was declared. 
Grant, like most men of the North, thought that the war 
was unjust; that it had been forced upon Mexico by south- 
ern politicians in their greed for more slaveholding territory. 
But he was a soldier, and it was his duty to obey. His first 
battle was on the frontier at Palo Alto, under General Taylor 
as the commander of the American forces. But it was at 
Monterey that Grant distinguished himself as a brave soldier 
under fire. During the progress of the battle, ammunition 
for a part of the army gave out. Volunteers were called for, 
to ride across the bullet-swept city with orders for a fresh 
supply. Grant was the first to respond. Clinging to his 
horse, with his body on the unexposed side, with one leg 
thrown over the saddle and with his arms clasped around the 
horse's neck, Indian fashion, he rode swiftly across the lines 
and delivered his orders. 

The next year Grant was with General Scott in the march 
from the sea against the city of Mexico. In the movements 



BUSINESS MAN 26 1 

which culminated in the surrender of that city, Grant again 
showed the stuff he was made of by seizing a church over- 
looking the city and by dragging a small cannon up into its 
belfry. He was able from this elevation to throw shot and 
shell into the camp of the enemy. Grant's heart was not in 
this war, although, as we have seen, he did his duty brax'cly 
and efficiently. The war, however, was a valuable training 
for him, and for many others, for the more serious struggle 
of later years. His letters home at this time did not have 
much to say about battles or the dark side of the conflict, but 
were full of his admiration for the strange sights in this 
wonderful country — the tropical forests on the mountain 
sides, the many-colored birds and flowers, and the mighty 
ruins of buried races. 

After the war was ended Grant returned to St. Louis, where 
he married Miss Julia Dent. For a time they were stationed 
at Detroit and at Sacketts Harbor, New York, an army post 
on the eastern end of Lake Ontario. From there he was 
transferred to the Pacific coast. It was out of the question 
to take his wife and young child on the long trip across the 
continent, so they were left with his father in Ohio. For 
nearly three years he was separated from his family. Unable 
to endure longer the loneliness of this separation, he resigned 
and came home in July, 1854. The outlook was gloomy. 
On his meager pay as an army officer, he had been able to 
save nothing. Now, at the age of thirty-two, with no money, 
with no profession, except the one from which he had just 
resigned, with no practical business experience, and with a 
wife and children to support, he had to start life afresh. He 
began as a farmer on some land near St. Louis which his 
wife's father gave him. 

Here he worked patiently and faithfully, but the climate 

MAK & DEF. — 17 



262 GRANT 

was bad; he became ill and was obliged to sell the farm. He 
next tried to establish himself as a real-estate agent in St. 
Louis, but failed. There came a time when he walked the 
streets of the city looking for work. These were the darkest 
days of his life. Modest, reticent, and unassuming, he was 
almost crushed by this experience. Other men regarded 
him as a failure, and he almost believed that their judgment 
was correct. He finally secured employment as a clerk in 
his father's store at Galena, Illinois, and was there when 
the Civil War commenced. 

THE SILENT GENERAL 

We must not gain the impression that Grant failed in 
business through neglect or wrong-dealing on his part. He 
was frugal and industrious, and in all his relations with others 
honest and generous. But the fifteen years of army life had 
unfitted him for anything else. 

While he was a farmer and business man, he watched 
the country drift toward the Civil War. He had lived in a sec- 
tion of the country where slavery existed, and his wife's family 
were slaveowners. He felt that a great conflict between the 
two sections of his country was sure to come. At once upon 
the declaration of war, he offered his services to his country. 
He refused the captaincy of a volunteer company in Galena, 
but was soon appointed by Governor Yates as colonel of the 
Twenty-first regiment of Illinois volunteers. 

Grant's time had come; the work he was fitted to do was 
before him. He said httle, but he worked hard. Soon his 
regiment was a model of discipline and efficiency, and he was, 
as a result, promoted to a brigadier generalship. The war in 
the West commenced now in earnest. The Confederates 
held a strong defensive line extending from forts on the 



THE CIVIL WAR 



263 



Mississippi River at Columbus and Island No. 10 eastward 
along the border of Kentucky and Tennessee to the Cumber- 
land Mountains. Two of the strongest positions on this 
line were Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort 
Donelson on the Cumberland. The capture of these forts 
was the first movement in the Union campaign to gain con- 




50 100 



War in the West, 1862 



trol of the Mississippi River. Accordingly, early in 1862, 
Grant, in command of the land forces, and Foote, in com- 
l mand of the gunboats, moved against Fort Henry. 

The fleet silenced the guns of the fort, and the Confederate 
forces withdrew to Ft. Donelson. Here, ten days later, after 
desperate fighting, they were compelled to yield. General 



264 GRANT 

Buckner, who was in command of the fort, sent a flag of truce 
to Grant, asking for the terms t)f surrender. Grant rephed 
in a brief but famous note: "No terms except unconditional 
and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to 
move immediately upon your works." Grant's soldiers, 
after this, used to say that the initials of his name stood for 
"Unconditional Surrender" Grant. 

The gates of these western rivers were now open, and the 
victorious Union army advanced over two hundred miles 
into the territory of the enemy. The Confederates took their 
next stand along the southern boundary of Tennessee, with 
a line of defense extending from Vicksburg on the Mississippi 
to Chattanooga in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. 
Both of these positions were important. Chattanooga con- 
trolled the gap through the Alleghenies into the fertile state 
of Georgia, and Vicksburg overlooked and guarded the 
great highway of travel along the Mississippi River. 

Against the latter position. Grant now directed the move- 
ments of his army. The South, gathering all its strength 
under Albert Sidney Johnston,^ one of its ablest generals, 
endeavored to check this movement. The two armies met at 
Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862), in one of the 
most bitterly contested battles of the Civil War. The South- 
erners were victorious on the first day, but Grant, receiv- 
ing reenforcements during the night, recovered his lost 
ground on the next day and drove them back. Soon after. 
Union fleets succeeded in taking New Orleans and Memphis, 
and the way was open to attack Vicksburg. 

1 A monument erected in the city of New Orleans bears this tribute to 
his memory: " A man tried in many high offices and critical enterprises 
and found faithful in all. No country ever had a truer son, no cause a 
nobler champion, no people a bolder defender than the dead soldier." 



THE CIVIL WAR 



265 



The Confederates called this city the " Gibraltar of Amer- 
ica." It was situated on high bluffs along the eastern bank 
of the Mississippi River, and the Southern government had 
prepared extensive defenses here to guard the river. Its 
possession was important to them, for through it they con- 
trolled the river and brought supplies from the Confederate 




Besieging Vicksburg 

states on its western side. After several failures, Grant 
succeeded in reaching Vicksburg, and twice endeavored to 
take the city by storm. 

Finding the Confederates too strongly intrenched to be 
captured in this way, he determined to starve them out. Day 
after day. Grant drew his lines closer. Week after week, the 
Southern soldiers lay in their trenches and starved. The 
fire from the Union gunboats and batteries was so continuous 
and so hot that the citizens of Vicksburg were compelled to 



266 GRANT 

live in caves. At last siege and starvation did their work, and 
on July 4, 1863, the Confederate forces surrendered. When 
the news flashed through the North that Vicksburg had fal- 
len, and that the Confederacy had been cut in two, there was 
great rejoicing. Lincoln had said of Grant, "I can't spare 
this man. He fights." The success of the western campaign 
proved the soundness of his judgment. 

Grant was now placed in command of all the Union forces 
west of the Cumberland Mountains. He immediately com- 
menced operations against the Confederates near Chatta- 
nooga, and after directing Sherman, Thomas, and Hooker 
in a series of brilliant battles, captured the enemy's positions 
in the fall of 1863. The road into Georgia was now open, 
ready for the time when Sherman and his men should 
sweep in victory from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and from 
Atlanta to the sea. 

THE END OF THE WAR 

These successes made it clear that Grant was the greatest 
general on the Northern side that the war had produced. 
Lincoln had been watching his career in the West with 
increasing confidence. He saw that Grant was "a copious 
worker and fighter, but a very meager writer"; that he 
always accomplished what'he set out to do. So he summoned 
Grant to Washington and placed him in command of all the 
Union forces. And from that day there were no military 
orders from the White House, for the great President and the 
silent general understood and trusted each other. Lincoln 
had found his man, and the end of the war w^as at hand. 

Grant's plan for the conduct of the war henceforth was 
simple. With his Army of the Potomac, and with Sheridan 
in command of his cavalry forces, he was to keep hammering 



THE CIVIL WAR 



267 




Sherman's Men destroying a Railroad 



away at Lee until he had 
utterly defeated that 
general and had cap- 
tured Richmond. His 
trusted lieutenant, Sher- 
man, was to march 
through Georgia to the 
sea, thereby cutting the 



Confederacy in two again, and destroying the main sources 
of supplies for its armies. How these plans were carried out 
we shall now see. On the 4th of May, 1864, Grant com- 
menced this twofold campaign. The army of the Potomac, 
which he personally directed, numbering one hundred and 
twenty thousand men, was encamped on the banks of the 
Rapidan River in Virginia. From here he moved forward 
to attack Lee. The two greatest generals of the North and 
the South were for the first time face to face. 

On the same day, in fulfillment of their agreement, Sherman 
began his advance from Chattanooga into Georgia, nor did 
he stop until he had captured and burned Atlanta and had 
offered Savannah to the President as a Christmas gift. 



268 GRANT 

As Grant's veteran troops crossed the Rapidan and marched 
into the Wilderness, the soldiers sang: 

''Ulysses leads the van! 
Ulysses leads the van! 
For we will dare 
To follow where 
Ulysses leads the van." 

"We have a general of our own," they said, "and we mean to 
follow him on to Richmond." They did so, but every step 
of the way was stubbornly contested by the "boys in gray." 
Grant met in Lee an antagonist worthy of his utmost skill. 
Lee had been accustomed to Union generals who would fight 
a battle and then sit down and rest — or run away. But 
this quiet little man hung on with a bulldog grip. He never 
knew when he was beaten. Grant once said, "The art 
of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. 
Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you 
can and as often as you can, and keep moving on.'' This 
was just what he did in the Wilderness and in the battles 
which followed. "I propose to fight it out on this hne if it 
takes all summer," Grant wrote to Lincoln, and he did not 
rest until he had driven Lee within the defenses of Rich- 
mond. Then Grant followed the same tactics which had 
won him Vicksburg. He drew his lines closely about the 
Southern capital, and began a stubborn siege of the city and 
its outlying fortifications. 

Lee had been accustomed, whenever danger threatened 
Richmond, to make a counter attack upon Washington. So 
he sent General Jubal Early with the Confederate cavalry 
down the Shenandoah valley to make this attapk. Grant, 
however, did not lessen his grip upon Richmond, but sent 
a strong force under General Sheridan with orders to 



THE CIVIL WAR 



269 



drive Early back and to lay waste the valley. Sheridan 
did his task thoroughly, although at Cedar Creek the 
Union troops were surprised and driven back. Sheridan, 
who was at Winchester, twenty miles away, heard the cannon- 
ading. Mounting his horse, he rushed to the battle field. 
As he met his retreating soldiers along the road, he shouted. 




General Sheridan's Ride 

"Turn, boys, turn! We're going back!" Defeat, by his 
presence, was changed into victory, and Early was sent 
"whirling" out of the valley. 

By the first of November, Grant had lost eighty thousand 
men in the battles about Richmond. These men the North 
could replace. Lee's losses had not been so heavy, but he 
had no reserves to make them good, for practically all the 
Southern men capable of bearing arms were already in the 
Southern army. The war now resolved itself into a question 
of endurance. Finally, Lee's supplies were exhausted, and 
he was forced to aljandon Richmond. With the ragged 
remnant of his gallant army, he fled toward the west, hoping 



270 



GRANT 



to reach the mountains and prolong the war. But human en- 
durance had reached its hmit; his men, wearied, discouraged, 
and without food, were hemmed in on all sides by the Union 
troops. So at Appomattox Court House, on the 9th of April, 
1865, he gave up the unequal struggle. Grant, stern and 
unyielding as a foe, now showed himself gentle and consider- 
ate as a friend. The terms of surrender were as simple and 




Lee and Grant discussing the Terms of Lee's Surrender 

as kindly as the character of the man who made them. The 
Southern officers and men were to retain their horses, bag- 
gage, and side-arms, and to return to their homes on parole. 
"The men will need their horses for the spring plowing," 
Grant said. When Lee reminded him that the surrendered 
soldiers had nothing to eat, he ordered that rations and sup- 
plies be sent them at once; and w^hen his men began the fir- 
ing of salutes in honor of the victory, he stopped them, saying, 
"The war is over; the rebels are our countrymen again." 



PRESIDENT 271 

GRANT, THE NATION'S HERO 

Grant's kindness to the conquered foe was shown again 
and again in the dark days following the Civil War. Instead 
of marching in triumph into Richmond at the head of his 
victorious army, he hastened to Washington to take the neces- 
sary steps to close the affairs of the war as quickly and as 
quietly as possible. Johnson, succeeding to the oflfice of Presi- 
dent after the death of Lincoln, desired to arrest Lee and 
other Confederate generals in order to have them tried for 
treason. Grant, thoroughly angered, threatened to resign 
from the army if this were done, and the scheme was dropped. 

The whole nation loved and revered their great hero, and 
sought to reward him by electing him as their President. 
But the two terms he served in the presidential office added 
neither to his dignity nor to his reputation. He was not a 
statesman; he was not even a politician. He was simply a 
straightforward, honest man whose great gifts of mind and 
body were not along the lines of statecraft. So it was with 
a feeling of relief that he became again a private citizen. Once 
he said of a vote of thanks given him by Congress, "This is 
the certificate given me for being a good boy in school." 
It was with something of a boy's gladness when school days 
are over and playtime comes, that Grant with his wife made 
a tour around the world. He was received everywhere with 
the highest honors. Upon his return, he entered the banking 
firm of Grant and Ward. 

Through the dishonesty of his partners, the enterprise 
failed and Grant found himself at the age of sixty-two a 
ruined man. Fearing dishonor more than poverty, he turned 
all of his property — even the gifts which kings and rulers had 
given him when abroad — over to his creditors. About the 



272 



GRANT 



same time an incurable disease fastened itself upon him. 
With a Christian courage rarely equaled in the life of any 
man, he went to work patiently to save his good name and to 
provide for his family. He had been asked to write the his- 
tory of his life, and now undertook the task. 

The greatest fight the brave soldier had ever had was 
before him; he must finish the Memoirs before death came. 

The cancer in his throat 
caused him intense agony, 
yet he bore the suffering 
uncomplainingly. For 
hours, while stubbornly 
working at his desk, he 
would deny himself a 
drink of water rather than 
risk the chance of special 
pain in swallowing it. 
When he became too 
weak to hold the pen, he 
dictated the material for 
his book. As the disease 
progressed, his voice 
failed him and he could 
speak only in whispers. Still he fought on with the same 
dogged persistence that had won his other battles. At last, 
victory was his. The Memoirs were finished, and he had no 
further fear of death. 

The end came at Mount McGregor, a beautiful mountain 
home overlooking Saratoga, N. Y., to which he had been 
removed in the summer of 1885. There, on the 23d of July, 
the great general and simple-hearted man breathed his last. 
He was laid to rest in a beautiful park in the city of New York, 




Grant's Tomb, New York 



PRESIDENT 



273 



on the banks of the Hudson River. The splendid marble 
tomb which a grateful country erected to his memory marks 
his last resting place. But his most enduring monument is 
in the hearts of the nation he helped to save. His simple 
words, "Let us have peace," find a response in the heart 
of every true American. 

Topical Outline. — The ancestry of Grant. His boyhood days and 
life at West Point. Grant in the regular army: his experiences in the 
war with Mexico. His business ventures. Grant as a general in the 
Civil War. His campaigns in the West: Forts Henry and Donelson, 
Shiloh, Vicksburg, campaign in Tennessee. His campaigns in the East: 
crushing Lee's army, kindness to the conquered foe. Grant's later 
life: as President; as a private citizen; his greatest fight. His victory. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph describing Grant's early 
life. II. Tell some incident of Grant's experiences in the Civil War. 
III. Imagine yourself living in Vicksburg during the siege of that city. 
What were your experiences there? IV. Why do you think Grant's 
soldiers loved him ? V. Tell in your own words the story of Sheridan's 
ride. VI. Give some examples of Grant's kindness of heart and thought- 
fulness of others. VII. What event of Grant's life do you admire most? 

Map Work. — Locate West Point (p. 60), Monterey, Mexico (p. 304), 
Fort Henr)', Fort Donelson, Shiloh (near Pittsburg Landing), Vicks- 
burg, Appomattox (p. 252). 

* 
Collateral Reading 

i/w/ory. — Hancock, "Life at West Point"; Hart and Stevens, 
"Romance of the Civil War," pp. 179-183, 257-259, 189-191. 

Biography. — Burton, "Four American Patriots," pp. 195-254; 
Brooks, "Century Book of Famous Americans," pp. 137-191; Brooks, 
"True Story of Grant "; Grant, "Personal Memoirs"; Wister, " U. S. 
Grant "; Allen, " Ulysses S. Grant." 

P(7e/ry. — Read, "Sheridan's Ride"; Finch, "The Blue and the 
Gray"; Drake, "The American Flag.' 



ROBERT E. LEE, THE CAPTAIN OF THE 
BOYS IN GRAY 

The three men whom the Civil War made most famous 
came from entirely different classes of American life. Lin- 
coln, the martyred President, rose to his high position from 
the humblest circumstances; his early life was one of toil and 
privation. Grant, the iron-handed general, came from the 
great middle class of America, the sinew and strength of our 
nation. Lee, the gallant leader of the gray-clad Southern 
soldiers, was descended from one of Virginia's aristocratic 
families. All of these men wxre gentlemen in the highest 
sense of the term — kindly, clean-minded, and strong. Each 
of them did his work in his own way and did it well. We 
have read the Hves of Lincoln and Grant, and we shall turn 
now to that of Lee in order that we may see through South- 
ern eyes what the Civil War was. 

Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford, a beautiful 
country home of the Lee family, situated in the county of 
Westmoreland, Virginia. His father was General Henry 
Lee, whose daring deeds as a cavalry leader in the Revolu- 
tionary War had given him the title of "Light Horse Harry." 
He was a brave soldier and a gallant gentleman, whose 
friendship for Washington led him to speak of the great 
Virginian as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts 
of his fellow-citizens." When Robert was four years old, his 
father moved to Alexandria in order to give the children 

better school privileges. Here his boyhood days were spent, 

274 



YOUTH 



275 



and here, after the death of his father, he was the comfort 
and support of an invahd mother. As he grew to young man- 
hood, he learned to ride well, to shoot straight, and always 
to tell the truth. 

At eighteen Robert received an appointment to West 
Point, from which he was graduated four years later with the 
second highest honors of his class. He was assigned to duty 



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Lee's Home, Arlington 



in the Engineer Corps of the regular army. For years he 
served in this important division of the military branch of 
our government, planning coast defenses, building levees on 
the Mississippi River, and assisting in other engineering work. 
During these busy years, he found time to woo and win 
Mary Randolph Custis, the beautiful daughter of Wash- 
ington's adopted son, Washington Park Custis. After their 
marriage in 1831, they made their home in Arlington, Mr. 
Custis's splendid country estate on the Potomac River within 
sight of the city of Washington. This mansion, at Mr. 
Custis's death, became the property of Mrs. Lee. It was 
the home of the family until the Civil War. The surround- 



276 



ROBERT E. LEE 



ing grounds and estate are now used as a national cemetery, 
in which many of the brave sokiiers of that war have their 
last resting place. 

Lee saw active service throughout the war with Mexico, 
winning the highest praise from his commanders, and show- 
ing traits of courage and of leadership that were afterwards 

to make him famous. 
A story is told that 
once when Lee was 
acting as a scout he 
pushed too near the 
enemy's line and was 
forced to lie hidden in 
a hollow log while the 
Mexicans passed and 
repassed his place of 
concealment. In 1852 
Lee was appointed 
superintendent of the 
West Point Academy, 
where he remained 
until 1855. His son 
Custis Lee was a student at the Academy during these years, 
and in the same class with Custis was another southern boy 
named Stuart, who afterwards became one of the dashing 
cavalry leaders of the Civil War. 

In 1859 Lee was sent by the government to capture John 
Brown. Brown was a noted abolitionist who had shared in 
the border troubles in Kansas. He conceived the idea that, by 
arousing and arming the negroes in Virginia, he might hasten 
their freedom. With only a handful of followers, he began 
operations by seizing the United States Arsenal at Harpers 




John Brown at Harpers Ferry 



ARMY OFFICER 277 

Ferry. Colonel Lee was sent with a company of United 
States marines to suppress the insurrection. He captured 
Brown and turned him over to the civil authorities for trial. 
The insurrection was in itself insignificant, but it was one of 
the many irritating causes of the misunderstanding between 
the North and the South, now rapidly reaching an acute 
state. Soon after this incident, Lee was sent to Texas to take 
charge of the government forces there. He remained in this 
position for a year. Then, after Texas had joined the seces- 
sion movement, Lee was recalled to Washington. 

The war storm that had so long threatened now broke. 
Seven of the Southern states, following the leadership of 
South Carolina, had already formed the Confederate States 
of America when Lee reached home. In the border slave- 
holding states, however, there was a strong sentiment opposed 
to secession. Nowhere was this stronger than in the great 
commonwealth of Virginia. That state, the mother of Pres- 
idents, the scene of so many splendid deeds of patriotism, 
hesitated to sever the bonds of a Union in which she had 
shared so conspicuously and so honorably. 

Her citizens still longed for a peaceful solution of the prob- 
lem. But the capture of Fort Sumter, which so aroused 
the North, also unified Southern sentiment. When it was 
seen that the government intended, at all hazards, to 
prevent secession, Virginia, together with North Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Arkansas, joined the Confederacy. The men 
and women of these border states felt that their duty and their 
loyalty should be greater to their states than to the Nation. 

To Lee, as well as to thousands of other men who loved the 
old Union, now came the necessity of a choice between the 
two flags. By the advice of General Scott, President Lincoln 
offered Lee the command of the United States armies. His 

MAK. & DEF. — 18 



278 ROBERT E. LEE 

marked ability and experience, as well as his conspicuous 
services in the Mexican war, eminently fitted him for this 
high position. But, although opposing secession and ear- 
nestly praying that war might be averted, he felt that he could 
take no part in an invasion of the Southern states. Accord- 
ingly he refused Lincoln's offer and resigned his commission 
in the army. His only ambition now was to remain a private 
citizen, and to use his influence, if possible to avert, war. 

In a letter to his sister he made clear his position at 
this time. ''The whole South," he wrote, "is in a state of 
revolution, into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has 
been drawn; and though I recognize no necessity for this 
state of things, and would have pleaded to the end for redress 
of grievances real or supposed, yet I had to meet the question 
whether I should take part against my native state. With all 
my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty 
of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my 
mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my 
home." 

Lee could not, however, long maintain this neutral atti- 
tude. The time soon came when he found it necessary to 
fulfill his solemn pledge to draw his sword only in defense of 
his native state. The Virginia legislature, at once taking 
active measures to repel the threatened invasion, placed Lee 
in command of the military forces of the state. The next 
year was spent by Lee in organizing troops, in a campaign 
in West Virginia, and in caring for the coast defenses of South 
Carohna and Georgia. On the ist of June, 1862, he was 
placed in command of the Army of Virginia, as the Southern 
forces defending Richmond were called, and from that time 
until the close of the war was the most conspicuous of the 
Southern generals. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



279 



THE EASTERN CAMPAIGNS OF 1 862 AND 1 863 

It is not within the scope of this book to give any detailed 
account of the many battles and skirmishes of the Civil War. 
The general movements of the opposing armies in the East 
during the years of 1862 and 1863 should, hov^ever, be 




The Virginia Campaigns of 1862 



remembered. The scene of action was in Virginia and Mary- 
land. The Northern army was called the Army of the Poto- 
mac; the Southern, the Army of Virginia. The North tried 
to capture Richmond; the South, to protect that city and, by a 



28o ROBERT E. LEE 

counter attack, to threaten Washington. So, each year, 
there was a determined effort to capture the Southern capital, 
which was repelled, and which was followed by an equally 
vigorous northern invasion by the Southern forces under the 
command of Lee. Let us now see how these great move- 
ments on the chessboard of war were conducted. 

In the spring of 1862 the Union forces were encamped on 
the Potomac about Washington, under the command of 
McClellan. For months after the disastrous battle of Bull 
Run, he had been occupied in organizing his army and 
drilling his forces, until the phrase "All is quiet along the 
Potomac" grew tiresome to the people of the North, who 
wanted the Northern troops to move at once against Rich- 
mond. 

Finally McClellan began active operations. Instead of 
marching his troops overland across Virginia, he transported 
them by boat to Fort Monroe, at the entrance of Chesapeake 
Bay, attacked the Confederates at Yorktown, and began 
to approach Richmond from a southwesterly direction. 
This was called the Peninsular Campaign, because it was 
fought on the peninsula between the James and the York 
Rivers. He reached a point within ten miles of Richmond, 
and in the battle of Fair Oaks defeated the Confederates 
under General Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston was severely 
wounded in this battle, and the command of the Army of 
Virginia was given to General Lee. 

Lee at once took the offensive. In order to relieve the 
attack upon Richmond, he sent General J. E. B. Stuart 
with a large force of Confederate cavalry to cut off McClellan's 
supplies. General T. J. Jackson, whose bravery at the first 
battle of Bull Run had given him. the title of "Stonewall,''' 
was sent up the Shenandoah valley to threaten Washington, 




THE CIVIL WAR 28 T 

and on his return Lee and Jackson attacked McClellan in 
what are known as the Seven Days' Battles (June 26- July 2, 
1862), culminating in the battle of Malvern Hill, where 
the Confederates were repulsed with 
fearful slaughter. The combined 
movements, however, were success- 
ful. The siege of Richmond was 
raised, and Lee was free to invade 
the North. 

Before troops from the Army of 
the Potomac could be brought to 
strengthen the Northern forces pro- 
tecting Washington, Lee fought and 
won the battle of Manassas, on the Stonewall Jackson 
old battle field of Bull Run (August 29, 1862). He then 
pushed forward rapidly, crossed the Potomac into Maryland, 
and on September 17, 1862, met the Northern forces, now 
reunited and strengthened, at Sharpsburg on Antietam 
Creek. It was a drawn battle, but Lee was forced to with- 
draw across the Potomac and abandon his campaign of 
invasion. McClellan failed to press the retreating Southern 
army as vigorously as the authorities in Washington desired, 
and was removed from his command. Burnside was ap- 
pointed as his successor, and proved as reckless as McClellan 
had been cautious. He attacked Lee in a strongly fortified 
position at Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862), and met 
with a disastrous defeat. The Southern army now went 
into winter quarters, and the Eastern campaign of 1862 
ended with no advantage on either side. 

The first general engagement between the opposing 
armies in 1863 was fought at Chancellorsville (May 2-3, 
1863), and here Lee won a briUiant victory over "Fighting 



282 



ROBERT E. LEE 




At Chancellorsville 

Joe" Hooker, in command of the Army of the Potomac. In 
this battle, however, Lee lost his most able general, Stone- 
wall Jackson. Jackson had been an important factor in all 
of these campaigns. At Manassas, at Antietam, and at 
Fredericksburg, he had been Lee's "right arm." A man of 
lofty moral principles, of stern devotion to duty, like the 
Puritans of old, of boundless courage, and of great personal 
influence over his men, Jackson was a soldier whom the Con- 
federacy could not replace. 

Lee's second invasion of the North now began. His troops, 
flushed with victory, singing "Maryland, my Maryland" as 
they marched across that state, pushed forward into Pennsyl- 
vania. The North was thoroughly alarmed, for it was the 
first time a considerable body of Southern troops had reached 
any of the Northern states. All sorts of vague and terrifying 
rumors swept over the country. "Lee was to attack Harris- 
burg; his army might capture and destroy Philadelphia or even 



THE CIVIL WAR 



283 




New York; Southern 
sympathizers in 
Northern cities were to 
aid him by mob force." 
That these rumors 

had no serious founda- P^^^^**'^ ^^^'^e at Gettysburg 

tion in fact did not lessen the feehng of alarm. However, 
the daring invasion of Lee's army was checked on the battle 
field of Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania, July 1-3, 1863. 
After a fearful struggle lasting three days, Lee was turned 
back. One of the thrilling incidents of this battle, the great- 
est of the Civil War, was the charge of fifteen thousand sol- 
diers, the flower of the Confederate army, under General 
Pickett. In a last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle, 
Lee hurled these men against the Union intrenchments on 



284 ROBERT E. LEE 

Cemetery Ridge. Crossing a mile of open ground under a 
most terrific fire, they reached the Union lines, and in a hand 
to hand struggle were driven back. The history of the war 
records no more superb courage or greater devotion to a lost 
cause than that shown by Pickett's men in their famous 
charge. A monument now marks the spot where the Con- 
federates were repulsed. It bears the inscription, " Highwater 
Mark of the Rebellion," and history confirms its verdict. 

The loss of life in the battle of Gettysburg was appalling. 
Nearly fifty thousand men, the best blood of America, fell on 
that battle field. The men whom Lee lost could never be 
replaced. He was forced to retreat, and he never made 
another attempt to invade the North. The Army of the Poto- 
mac followed the retreating Southern forces into' Virginia, 
and for the remainder of the year no movements of impor- 
tance took place there. The two armies then went into winter 
quarters, facing each other, on the banks of the Rappahan- 
nock and Rapidan rivers. 

When spring came, both sides girded themselves for the 
final struggle. A new general was now in command of the 
Northern armies. Grant, the hero of the West, had been 
summoned to Washington to put down the rebellion and to 
restore peace to the nation. 

The Southern leaders knew that this simple, silent man 
would fight until the end, and they made desperate efforts to 
strengthen Lee's army. Every able-bodied man in the South 
between the ages of seventeen and fifty was summoned for 
mihtary duty. The campaign commenced early in May, when 
Grant began his advance. Back of him were the \'ast re- 
sources of the North, while Lee had the advantage of fighting 
on the defensive in a country with which he was thoroughly 
familiar. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



285 




Jn a desolate, fire- 
^carrcd jungle called the 
Wilderness," south of the 
Rapidan River, the armies 
^l^^' met, and for nearly two weeks 
^ the opposing forces struggled. 
Grant's plan was to get between 
/ Lee's army and Richmond. Lee, 
who was a master in defensive war- 
fare, prevented every flanking move- 
ment, but was obliged to fall back each 
time to a new line of defense. While 
Grant was fighting his way out of the 
Wilderness, Lee was told that he was 
Siege Of Petersburg .^^.^^ting. " You are mistaken," Lee 
replied, "quite mistaken; Grant isn't a retreating man." 

Finally, the Confederate forces were pushed back to the 
fortifications about Richmond. One of the most important 
outposts of that city was Petersburg, south of the Con- 
federate capital. This Grant attacked, but, fmding it loo 
strongly fortified to be taken by storm, he began a siege. For 
nine months Lee and his devoted men withstood all assaults. 



286 ROBERT E. LEE 

but sickness and starvation did their work at last. When the 
thin gray hne under Lee could hold out no longer, Petersburg 
fell, April 2, 1865. The next day the Confederates abandoned 
Richmond, and the Union forces took possession of the city. 
With the downfall of the Confederate capital the war was 
practically ended, for Lee was forced soon after to surrender 
to the superior forces under Grant. 

The scene at Appomattox Court House, when Lee bade 
farewell to his troops after he had surrendered, was touching 
and pathetic. 

For years they had followed "Uncle Robert," as they 
affectionately called him, through dangers and privations, 
and they sobbed in anguish when he told them that the 
struggle was over. " Men," he said, " we have fought through 
the war together. I have done my best for you. My heart is too 
full to say more." Then he mounted his gray war horse, 
Traveler, and rode back to his home and his family. 

Now that the great conflict was ended, Lee retired to pri- 
vate life, and bravely set about repairing his shattered for- 
tunes. He w^as offered employment and a large salary in 
several business enterprises, but refused to accept any posi- 
tion for which he felt himself unfitted. Finally he was elected 
president of Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia, 
afterward re-named Washington and Lee University. This 
call he accepted, saying, "I have led the young men of the 
South to battle; I have seen many of them fall under my 
standard. I shall devote my life now to training young men 
to do their duty in life." 

To this self-imposed task, he gave himself with all the 
energy of his great nature. His exposure during the war, how- 
ever, had sapped his vitality, and five years later, on the 12th 
of October, 1870, he died, Some one has said of Lee: "He 



COLLEGE PRESIDENT 287 

was a foe without hate and a friend without treachery, a sol- 
dier without cruelty and a victim without murmuring. He 
was a public officer without vice, a pri\'ate citizen without 
wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without 
hypocrisy, and a man without guilt." 

In this summary of his virtues a reunited country now 
agrees. We seek to forget that he fought, through a mistaken 
sense of duty, for a lost cause, while we wish to remember him 
as a Christian gentleman, beloved in peace as well as in war, 
a noble example of a great American. 

Topical Outline. — Three types of American citizens. Lee's an- 
cestry and education. His life in the army prior to the Civil War. 
The movement tov^ard secession. Lee's services in the Civil War. 
(a) The Eastern campaign of 1862; (b) The eastern campaign of 1863. 
The final struggle v^ith Grant. Lee as a private citizen. 

For Written Work. — I. Tell of Lee's early life and education. 

II. Write a paragraph about his reasons for loyalty to his state. 

III. Describe one of Lee's campaigns. IV. Write the names of the 
leading generals on the Southern side in the Civil War. V. Whom do 
you consider the greater general, Lee or Grant? Why? 

Map Work. — Locate Alexandria, Richmond, Malvern Hill, Manas- 
sas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Petersburg. 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — Williamson, ''The Life of Lee"; Cooke, ''Robert E. 
Lee"; Lee, " General Lee." 



ADMIRAL FARRAGUT AND THE WORK OF THE 

NAVY 

The na\T as well as the army had important work in the 
Civil War, and among the commanders were many brave 
men. One of the most famous was Admiral Farragut. 




•lilillilliW 



miimimmi 
Statue of Farragut, New York 



The father of Farragut was a Spanish gentleman who came 
to this country in 1776 and served as major of cavalry in the 



YOUTH 289 

Revolutionary War. He married and settled in eastern Ten- 
nessee, where in 1801 David Glasgow P'arragut was born. 
Soon after the purchase of Louisiana the Farraguts moved to 
the vicinity of New Orleans. 

One day in 1808, while fishing on Lake Pontchartrain, 
Farragut found an old man prostrated by the heat. He took 
him home and found that he was David Porter, a sailing 
master and father of Captain David Porter, who became 
prominent in the War of 181 2. Porter was very sick at the 
Farragut home for several weeks. Mrs. Farragut, who ten- 
derly cared for him, died just before his death, and the funeral 
of both occurred on the same day. 

The old gentleman's son. Captain Porter, felt so grateful to 
the Farraguts for their kindness, and so sorry for the mother- 
less children, that he asked to adopt young David. He took 
the boy north and placed him in school. 

When but eight years of age, David said that he wanted to 
enter the navy. Soon after going north. Captain Porter took 
the lad to the Secretary of the Navy, who was pleased with the 
boy and promised him a midshipman's warrant. Although 
he was appointed in December, 1810, he remained at school 
until the following August, when with Captain Porter he 
joined the Essex. 

Life on the Essex was good training for the future admiral. 
The best of discipline was maintained on board ship. The 
chaplain, who was the midshipman's schoolmaster, took 
particular interest in young David, and did much more for 
him than merely hearing him recite. The boy soon shared in 
exciting experiences, for war with England was declared the 
following spring. 

The Essex made a long cruise to the Mediterranean, then 
back around Cape Horn to the Pacific, capturing British 



290 DAVID G. FARRAGUT 

prizes. She had taken eleven British whalers in the Pacific 
when Captain Porter received word that three English ships 
were on their way to capture or destroy him. 

Early in February, 1814, the Essex, with some prize ships, 
entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso (the chief port of 
Chile, in South America), followed a little later by the two 
English ships, the Phcebe and the Cherub, under the com- 
mand of Captain Hillyer, a personal friend of Captain 
Porter. The American ships had the better position, but 
circumstances did not warrant Captain Porter's opening 
an action with apparently friendly visitors. 

After several days, in which Captain Porter was puzzled 
about the Englishman's purpose, a hesivy gale broke the top- 
mast off the Essex and severed her cable chains. The ship 
was so badly disabled that she could not put to sea. The 
English ships then made an attack. They were armed with 
long-range guns, that sent a small ball jvith great force; while 
the American ships had short-range guns, firing larger shot 
with less speed. These could do great damage, but in order 
to use them the ship must be able to move freely. As it was, 
the Essex was so crippled that the English ships could easily 
get out of her range, while their long guns in two hours com- 
pelled Captain Porter to strike his colors. 

David Farragut, not yet thirteen, was in the thick of this 
terrible fight, but escaped unharmed. Young as he was, he 
was regarded as a prisoner of war, and was formally ex- 
changed a few months later after returning to New York. 

He then attended a private school in Chester, Pennsylvania, 
until after peace was made with England. In the spring of 
1816, he was ordered to Washington for a trip to the Mediter- 
ranean. His journal mentions visits to the cities of the Bar- 
bary coasts, Sicily, and Italy. The Rev. Charles Folsom was 



THE CIVIL WAR 29 1 

the chaplain, and found Farragut an apt pupil. In the 
autumn of 1817, Mr. Folsom was appointed consul to Tunis, 
and asked that David be permitted to spend the winter with 
him, to continue his studies. This companionship with Mr. 
Folsom was most valuable to Farragut. 

He was regularly promoted, and had most interesting expe- 
riences, among which was the command of the Brandywine to 
take Lafayette home in 1826. For lack of space we must pass 
over many years of his life. After California was added to 
the Union, Farragut was sent to San Francisco to build a 
navy yard, and remained four years in charge of Mare Island 
navy yard, in San Francisco Bay. In 1858 he was promoted 
to the rank of captain, then the highest grade in the navy, and 
was given command of the Brooklyn, our first steam war ship. 

In October, i860, he returned to his home at Norfolk, Vir- 
ginia. Trying days followed. Lincoln was elected, and the 
Southern states seceded. Farragut was born in a Southern 
state, for many years his home had been in Virginia, and 
many of his personal friends were in sympathy with the 
South. But when Virginia joined the Confederacy in 1861, 
Farragut moved his family to New York state, and offered 
his services to the government to help preserve the Union. 

Early in the war the government decided to get possession 
of the Mississippi River. The plan provided for an army 
and a fleet of gunboats to force their way down the river, 
while at the same time an entrance w^as to be made from 
the Gulf of Mexico. This latter task was committed to 
Farragut, then about sixty years of age. 

New Orleans is ninety miles from the mouth of the river. 
Seventy-five miles below the city were two forts on opposite 
banks, just below which hea\y chain cables, attached to 
hulks of old boats, crossed the river. Between the forts and 



292 



DAVID G. FARRAGUT 




SCALE OF MILES 



the city was a fleet of Confederate war vessels, which fur- 
nished the only communication between the two. 

Farragut had twenty-five men-of-war, and twenty mortar 

boats under Captain Porter, 
the son of his foster father. 
An army under General But- 
ler was ready to cooperate 
with him. Farragut decided 
to run past the forts and de- 
stroy the fleet; then, with 
Butler's army, the forts and 
New Orleans could be taken. 
By a daring and clever bit 
of work, the chain cables 
New Orleans and Vicinity ^yere cut, and the current of 

the river drove the obstacles toward the shore and out of 
the way. 

The mortar boats, covered with branches of trees, kept near 
the river banks and crept up the stream undetected, until 
they got within good range of the forts. Then for six days the 
guns from these boats hurled shell thick and fast into the 
forts. The guns in the forts were fired at random, for the 
mortar boats could not be sighted. The Confederate fleet 
sent down fire rafts, but they were intercepted, hauled out 
of the way, and beached. 

At two o'clock on an April morning in 1862, Farragut's 
fleet formed in line and steamed up the river past the forts. 
They formed an ever varying mark, and the shots from the forts 
did not often hit. Then the Confederate fleet came to meet 
them. A battle between the two fleets raged for five hours, 
when all was over, and Farragut moved up the river to New 
Orleans. The city was taken with little resistance save a 



THE CIVIL WAR 



293 



stubborn determination not to lower the flag over the city 
hall. A little later the forts surrendered. Farragut remained 
on the river until the fall of Vicksburg, in 1863. His 
achievements entitled him to first place on the list of pro- 
posed admirals. 

In August, 1864, Farragut was sent to open Mobile Bay. 
An island lies at the entrance, and the channels on both sides 




Fight in Mobile Bay 

were well fortified. Farragut lashed his ships in pairs, and 
passed these forts rapidly, firing broadsides. In order to see 
above the smoke, he climbed up under the maintop of his 
ship. One of his men, fearing he might lose his footing, sent 
a seaman up to tie him to the rigging. Farragut consented, 
for, as he replied, he could then use his field glasses more 
easily. 

MAK. & DEF. — 19 



294 NAVAL HEROES 

When once past the entrance, the fight in the bay was short 
but at first very uncertain, because of the monster ram, Ten- 
nessee. This was finally compelled to surrender by several of 
Farragut's boats closing in around her. This victory gave 
Mobile Bay to the federal government; but the city of Mo- 
bile, thirty miles above, was not taken until the next spring. 

In July, 1866, Farragut was the first American to be created 
an admiral, and it is interesting to know that Captain Porter, 
who aided him at New Orleans, succeeded to the title on 
Admiral Farragut's death in 1870. 

Admiral Farragut was a good man as well as a great com- 
mander. As a mere child he was a favorite on board ship, and 
as a man he was loved by all under his command, and was 
often spoken of as "Little Luff." What he wTote his wife on 
entering Mobile Bay shows his character well: "I am going 
into Mobile in the morning, if God is my leader, as I hope he 
is, and in him I place my trust." 

Other Naval Exploits 

There were other brilliant exploits under brave com- 
manders, among whom were Lieutenant Worden of the 
Monitor^ Captain Winslow of the Kearsarge, and Lieutenant 
Cushing, who destroyed the ram Albemarle. 

Early in 1862, the Confederates covered an old warship 
with iron plates and sent it out to attack federal ships. 
This ironclad is famous as the Merrimac, and, although 
seamen laughingly called it a Quaker meetinghouse, for a 
time it was the best ship afloat. 

The Merrimac at Hampton Roads had one day sunk the 
Cumberland and the Congress, and intended, the next day, to 
dispose of the Minnesota, but when sh-e was about to attack 
the latter, a queer-looking little boat slipped out from behind, 



THE CIVIL WAR 295 

and replied with heavy balls. The Confederates at first 
jeered at what they called "A Yankee cheese-box on a raft," 
but very soon they realized that the little ironclad Monitor 
was a worthy opponent. 

The boats advanced, backed, and dashed at each other, 
continually firing shot that rolled off with little damage. The 
Monitor began to gain the advantage. Then a well-directed 
shell struck her pilot house, where Lieutenant Worden stood 
directing the battle. Flakes of iron and powder were driven 
into his face and eyes. The Monitor then withdrew, and the 
Merrimac was glad to bring the engagement to an end. 

When lying on a couch in the cabin, blinded and in great 
suffering, Lieutenant Worden asked, "Have I saved the 
Minnesota?'' When told that he had, he replied, "Then I 
die happy." But he did not die. He recovered his sight and 
his health, and served the government for twenty years longer. 

Captain Winslow and the Alabama 

The Confederates made heroic efforts to break the blockade, 
not only to carry on trade wnth Europe, but to destroy North- 
ern merchant vessels. One of the famous vessels in this serv- 
ice was the Alabama, built in England. The Alabama had 
captured sixty-six merchant vessels when Captain Winslow 
of the Kearsarge caught her in the harbor of Cherbourg, 
on the north coast of France. 

The Alabama was compelled to fight. The engagement 
took place three or four miles from the coast, and was wit- 
nessed by many Enghsh and French people. Since the 
Kearsarge and the Alabama were about equal in fitness, the 
fight was hard and fair. Both sides showed much skill, ~ 
but in the end the Alabama had to strike her flag. The 
ship soon sank, while her captain escaped to an English ship. 



296 



NAVAL HEROES 




The Alabama and the Kearsarge 



Lieutenant Gushing and the Albemarle 

One of the youngest officers to attain distinction by a val- 
iant piece of work was Lieutenant Gushing, but twenty-two 
years of age. The Gonfederates had an ironclad ram, the Al- 
bemarle, that had done a great deal of damage to Federal ship- 
ping. This boat had the advantage of speed, and could also, 
run in water too shallow for war vessels of the regular pattern. 

The ram lay anchored in the Roanoke River, near the city 
of Plymouth, North Garolina, eight miles from the mouth of 
the river, in October, 1864. Lieutenant Gushing, eager for 
daring work, begged permission to attempt to destroy her. 
With a dozen men in a launch one dark night he slipped up 
the river, unseen until a few yards from the Albemarle. He 
had everything in readiness, and just as the shots from the 
ram shattered his launch, a torpedo exploded by Gushing 
blew up the Albemarle. 

Gushing shouted to his men to take care of themselves, and, 



THE CIVIL WAR 



297 



as his boat sank, he swam down stream. Half an hour later, 
nearly exhausted, he crawled through a swamp and found a 
negro's cabin, where he got food and shelter for a few hours 
rest. He then started out, captured a skiff from a rebel 
picket, and before night had reached his fleet in safety. 

Topical Outline. — Farragut: birth and descent. Adopted by Cap- 
tain Porter. Taken north and became midshipman. The fight of the 
Essex. Mediterranean cruises. Built navy yard at San Francisco. 
Battle of New Orleans. Opened Mobile Bay. Character. Other 
famous naval officers in the Civil War: Worden, Winslov^^, Cushing. 

For Written Work. — I. Imagine you were young Farragut, and 
write an account of the battle of the Essex. II. Write on the importance 
of controlling the Mississippi River during the war. III. Tell the storj' 
of Lieutenant Cushing and the Albemarle. 

Map Work. — Locate Valparaiso (p. 328); Mare Island (near San 
Francisco), New Orleans, Mobile Bay, Plymouth, N. C. (p. 304); Cher- 
bourg. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Hart and Stevens, "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 171- 
179, 313-315. 347-379; Hart, "Source Book," pp. 313-315. 

Biography. — Beebe, "Four American Naval Heroes," pp. 133- 
192, 201-254; Mahan, "Admiral Farragut"; Barnes, "Midshipman 
Farragut." 




Loading a Naval Cannon in the Civil War 



CLARA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS 
SOCIETY 

As soon as President Lincoln called for volunteers in 1861, 
groups of women in Northern cities and towns began to make 
an effort to give relief and comfort to the soldiers. They met 
together to sew. They prepared bandages and made "com- 
fort bags," and sent them to the army. 

In June, the Sanitary Commission was organized and given 
the right to work in the camps and on the battle fields. These 
men and women realized that soldiers cannot win battles 
when they are sick, and that as great efforts should be made 
to prevent sickness as to care for the wounded. They sent to 
the soldiers printed circulars that gave directions about keep- 
ing their clothes and the camps clean, and also warned them 
about drinking water and the care of food. When it was 
found that much sickness could be prevented by furnishing 
the soldiers vegetables to eat, farmers through the North and 
West shipped to the front carloads of potatoes and onions. 

Very early in the war came the call for nurses, and many 
young women responded. Among these were Dorothy Dix 
and Mary Li vermore, whose services will long be remembered. 
Even an untrained woman was of great help in the hospitals 
as she went from cot to cot, giving a drink of water to one 
patient, a fresh handkerchief to another, and a word of cheer 
here and there. At meal time many of the sick ones had to be 
fed, and some wanted letters written home. At all times the 
surgeons and the skilled nurses were very busy dressing 
wounds and caring for the serious cases. 



THE CIVIL WAR 299 

Of all the brave women who gave themselves to this work 
the greatest is known to the world to-day as Clara Barton. 
She was a Massachusetts woman of thirty or more, 
and was in the Patent Office in Washington when the war 
broke out. Seeing the great needs of the first troops, and 
the difficulties of the government in supplying them, she 
offered her salary, but the government could not accept it. 

Finding no way of contributing, and unwilling to draw her 
salary, she resigned her position and went to the field to care 
for the sick and wounded, even before the organization of the 
Sanitary Commission. This drew the attention of the North- 
ern people, who, finding a w^ay of getting supplies direct to 
their soldiers, commenced to send them to her in such 
quantities as to require storage. The government gave 
her trains and men for transportation, and such information 
as was proper, concerning possible engagements. In this 
way, her supplies were first at a battle, often holding in 
check the most terrible needs, till regular reHef came. On 
some expeditions she had ten army wagons of supplies, 
with sixty mules and drivers. In this way, she went through 
the four years of war, often remaining months at the field 
with no shelter but her wagons and tents. 

At the close of the war, the army rolls showed that sixty 
thousand men were "missing." President Lincoln author- 
ized her to make a search to learn their probable fate. She 
and her helpers gained information of about twenty thou- 
sand. Through this search the government learned of the 
condition of the dead buried at Andersonville prison. Miss 
Barton was then sent to identify and mark the graves of 
the thirteen thousand soldiers buried there. Their burial 
place, covering fifty acres of ground, is known to-day as the 
"Cemetery of the Union Dead at Andersonville." 



300 



CLARA BARTON 



Broken in health, she went to Europe in 1869 ^^^ needed 
rest, but the war between France and Germany called her 
again to the field, to serve with the Red Cross Society at all 
the greatest battles from the Rhine to Paris. Returning to 
America, where the Red Cross had never been heard of, she 

set to work to make 
known to our govern- 
ment the principles 
of the society for the 
relief of the sick and 
wounded in war. Af- 
ter six years of labor 
at her own expense, 
she succeeded in get- 
ting our government 
to cooperate with the 
International Red 
Cross. On President 
Garfield's suggestion, 
she became president 
of the American Red 
Cross, and held that 
position until 1904, 
when she resigned. 

The flag, a red 
cross on a white 
ground, is recognized 
and respected as neutral in time of war. All nurses and repre- 
sentatives wear the red cross arm badge, and the field hospital 
must show, with this red cross, the national flag as well. It is 
always the practice of the Red Cross in time of war to care 
for friend and enemv alike. 




Clara Barton 



THE RED CROSS 3OI 

By consent of foreign nations, Miss Barton added to the 
work of the Red Cross in America, the relief of great 
disasters in civil life, as from fire, flood, and famine. This 
is known as the "American Amendment." She was always 
present with her helpers in such disasters as the Mississippi 
and Ohio floods, the Johnstown and Galveston floods, and 
the Russian famine; some twenty in as many years. Dur- 
ing all this time not a dollar was drawn from the treasury of 
the United States for relief of disasters, and, except in the 
time of the Cuban War, no appeal for money was ever 
made to the pubHc. As none of the officers of the Red Cross 
receive salaries, the freewill offerings of the people were 
sufficient. 

At over eighty, still well and active, Miss Barton has 
organized and nationalized the work of the " First Aid to the 
Injured in America," of which she is president. This, as she 
says, is a movement in which even school children may learn 
to lessen the sufferings of others. Miss Barton's home at 
present is at Glen Echo, Maryland. 

Topical Outline. — Sanitary Commission. Nurses and their work. 
Clara Barton in the Civil War. The Red Cross and its work. Later 
services of Clara Barton. 

For Written Work. — I. Suppose you were a Civil War nurse, and 
write a letter giving your experience. II. Write imaginary experiences 
in a field hospital during the Cuban War. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Hart and Stevens, "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 381- 
393; 395-403; 413-418. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION AND 
DEVELOPMENT 

When the Civil War was over, two important questions 
had to be settled: What was to be done with the Confed- 
erate states? and What was to be done with the negroes? 
Congress disposed of the first by requiring those states to 
draw up new constitutions, in which they promised never 
again to secede. They were also required to give the negroes 
the right to vote, and to ratify new amendments to the 
United States Constitution. This had to be done before 
they could send representatives to Congress. 

In January, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 
the slaves in the states still under arms against the govern- 
ment. Of course that was not sufficient, so the Thirteenth 
Amendment was passed, freeing all slaves, and prohibiting 
slavery forever in the territory governed by the United 
States. 

Freeing people who had no knowledge of the responsibil- 
ities of life or liberty, naturally led to crime. As slaves, they 
had never been obliged to provide for themselves or for their 
families, and many did not know how to go to work to earn a 
living, so they stole to keep from starving. When brought to 
trial, the negro had no money to pay his fine. He feared 
imprisonment, so when a white man offered to pay his fine 
the negro eagerly agreed to work for him for an indefinite 
period. In some cases he bound himself to work three or 

four years for the payment of a fifty dollar fine. The 

302 



ALASKA 303 

Southern planters needed workmen, and in this way often 
got them very cheap. Congress beheved that they were 
violating the Thirteenth Amendment, so a Civil Rights 
Bill was passed. Also the Fourteenth Amendment was 
added to the Constitution, giving to the negroes or freed- 
men the rights of citizenship. 

As the slaves had been freed and made citizens, they would 
now be counted in apportioning representatives in Congress. 
This and the fact that the states had been required to give 
them the right to vote, led to the Fifteenth Amendment. 
It says, "the right to vote shall not be denied on account 
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." 

Alabama Claims. — We recall that the Alabama, built in 
England, captured sixty-six merchant vessels before Captain 
Winslow of the Kearsarge destroyed her, off the coast of 
France. The United States government claimed that Eng- 
land had violated the laws governing neutral nations when 
she allowed the ship to be launched in an English shipyard. 
In 1872, by the Geneva Award, Great Britain agreed to pay 
$15,500,000 to the United States for the damage done by 
Confederate cruisers. As the most famous of these was the 
Alabama, the suits brought by our government for damages 
are often called the Alabama Claims. 

Purchase of Alaska. — Alaska had been discovered and 
explored in the middle of the eighteenth century by Rus- 
sians. The Russian government gave its control to a fur 
trading company, whose charter expired in 1867. Then the 
United States bought it for $7,200,000, or about two cents 
an acre. This was our last great acquisition of territory 
on the American continent. Earlier acquisitions are shown 
on the map on the following page. 

Growth of Railroads. — After the discovery of gold in Cal- 




^04 



THE REAPER 



305 



ifornia there was a great demand for railroads across the 
continent, but the Civil War interrupted the work for a few 
years. In 1870 the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific 
were completed, and the Northern Pacific begun. These 
roads with others and their many branches have brought 
the cities of the Pacific Coast within five days of those of the 
Atlantic Coast. 

Immigration and Growth of Cities. — At the close of the 
war there was a great increase in immigration. While only 
about 90,000 foreigners came to this country in 1861, nearly 
500,000 came in 1873. The building of railroads, rapid 
growth of industries, and general prosperity caused a steady 
increase, until, in 1907, nearly 1,300,000 came. Many of 
these people settled in the cities. 

Another reason for the growth of cities lies in the fact that 
the machines saving agricultural labor must be made in 
factories and foundries in cities. So we find that as fewer 
men are needed to work on the farms, they flock to the cities 
and work in shops. These labor-saving machines, and the 
application of steam and electricity, have brought about great 
industrial changes. People can enjoy more luxuries with less 
hard work than formerly. 

Cyrus Hall McCormick and the Reaper 

Until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century the 
implements used for cutting grass and grain were the sickle, 
scythe, and cradle. In each case the work was slow, one 
man being able to cut little more than an acre in a day. 
This was a great disadvantage, for grass and grain are 
injured by rains, which in many countries are liable to 
occur at the harvesting season. Another disadvantage 



3o6 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 

was that it required men to exercise violently in the fields 
at a time when heat is almost unbearable. 

Some attempts had been made to construct a machine to 
do this work, but until 1831 nothing had been made that 
worked well. Robert McGormick, a Virginia farmer, had 
before 181 7 invented several labor-saving farm tools, but he 
failed to make a machine to cut grain. He had a httle son, 
who played around his shop, watching these efforts and lis- 
tening to the conversation on the difficulties of the problem. 
This boy, years later, succeeded in doing what his father 
had failed to do. 

Cyrus Hall McCormick was born February 15, 1809, just 
three days after the birth of Abraham Lincoln. His childhood 
was spent in a home of great comfort, and he received the best 
of training from parents of fine Christian character. At fif- 
teen, young Cyrus began to experiment on a reaper, using the 
parts cast aside by his father. At twenty-two, he had built a 
machine that worked well. 

The first reaper was a simple affair, but it possessed the 
essential features of the later machines. Unlike some built in 
earlier times, that clipped off the heads of the grain, this cut 
the straw close to the ground. There was no seat for the 
driver, so he rode on one of the horses; and a man walked 
beside the reaper to rake the grain from the platform after it 
was cut. McCormick was not satisfied with this model of 
1 83 1, so he made many improvements before he asked for a 
patent, three years later. 

He built no reapers to sell until 1840, but from that time the 
demand for them increased rapidly. In 1844 some machines 
made by the McCormick Brothers in Virginia were sold to 
western farmers, and were shipped by water from Richmond 
to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi River to the Ohio. 



THE REAPER 307 

This increased the expense and reduced the profits, so the 
McCormicks moved to Chicago, within easy reach of the 
great wheat-raising farmers of the West. 

The manufacturing estabhshment they founded there 
now covers an area of forty acres, employs 2500 men, and 
makes over 200,000 machines each year, to be sold in every 
country of the world. 

There have been many improvements on the original 




McCormick Harvester 

machine. Since 1835 ^^^ government of the United States has 
granted over 20,000 patents for modifications. There are 
harvesters used on some western farms which combine the 
reaper, binder, thresher, fanning mill, sacker, and straw 
carrier. They are propelled by traction engines or by thirty 
or thirty-six horses. They can cut from sixty to one hundred 
and twenty-five acres, and thresh from seventeen hundred to 
three thousand bushels of grain in a day. Those using 
steam-power require seven men, while four men can manage 
the horse-power harvesters. Such monster machines are not 



3o8 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 

in common use. The average reaper saves the labor of seven 
or eight men. 

Wheat is the most important food product in the world. 
When wheat is cheap, bread is cheap. The price of wheat 
depends largely on the supply. Labor-saving machines have 
made great production possible. In some sections where a 
farmer could formerly harvest barely ten acres in a season, 
a hundred or two can now be harvested. 

Mr. McCormick, who invented the reaper, was also a great 
benefactor in other ways. He made large sums of money 
from his business, but he did not keep it all for himself. He 
founded a theological seminary for the Presbyterian Church. 
He gave generously to charity and religious publications. He 
lived to be an old man, and saw the great changes that came 
as the result of his invention. 

Topical Outline. — Early methods of cutting grain. Robert Mc- 
Cormick's attempts to make a reaper. Success was won by Cyrus 
McCormick in 1831. First machine sent west. McCormicks located 
in Chicago, A modern reaper. Benefits. 

For Written Work. — I. Describe a reaper you have seen cutting 
grain. II. Show how a poor man in the city may be benefited by a 
reaper. 

Map Work. — Locate on the map the states where the reaper does 
its greatest work. 

Collateral Reading 

Biography. — Mowry, "American Inventions and Inventors," 
pp. 117-123; Hubert, "Inventors," pp. 207-223; Williams, "Some 
Successful Americans," pp. 79-89. 



MORSE AND OTHER INVENTORS 

From the earliest times people have felt the need of send- 
ing messages from place to place more quickly than it would 
be possible to travel the same distance. Such need led to the 
adoption of various methods of signaling. One method 
most widely used was that of the beacon-light or a signal-fire 
by night or a column of smoke by day. Early settlers in 
America, when in need of help in case of Indian attacks, 
usually built a fire on a hill. In the Revolution the action of 
the enemy was made known miles away by the successive 
lighting of signal-fires. By day, mirrors reflecting sunlight 
were used in a similar way. The semaphore was long used. 
This is an upright standard with one or more arms that can 
be moved into positions representing letters or figures, cor- 
responding to the code of the communicating parties. 

The firing of cannon placed at intervals limited by the range 
of sound has also been used. But a more secret method and 
one that also allows an extended message and its reply, is 
the signaling with flags. A code understood by the com- 
municating parties is followed in the color and waving of these 
flags. ♦ 

All such devices seem poor in these days of the telephone 
and wireless telegraph. Yet our present conveniences have 
not long been enjoyed, and they have all grown out of the work 
of Professor Morse. 

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born near Bunker Hill 
battle ground in 1791. His father was a Congregational 

30Q 



3IO MORSE 

minister who had been a college professor, and was related 
to many scholarly men. The little boy early showed a very 
bright mind. He was sent to school at the age of four. His 
first teacher was known as "Old Ma'am Rand," who was 
lame and could not leave her chair, but she had a whip long 
enough to reach every boy in the room. Professor Morse 
tells us that he was often pinned to her dress, to punish him 
for drawing pictures instead of studying his lessons. 

He was later sent to one of the famous boys' schools in 
New England, and then to Yale college, from which he was 
graduated at the age of nineteen. The year after graduation, 
he went to England to study painting, and there he received 
much help and inspiration from the great artist, West, who 
had been so good a friend to Robert Fulton. 

Finley Morse, as he was called, had much ability, and was 
remarkably successful in his art work. When he was only 
twenty-two, he received a gold medal from the Royal Academy 
for his first attempt at sculpture, which was called The 
Dying Hercules. Several of his paintings received generous 
praise from the critics during his four years' stay in England. 

In 1 815 his father died, and he was obliged to return to 
America. For several years he spent all his time painting 
portraits, among which was one of Lafayette, done w^hile the 
great Frenchman was in this country in 1825. After this, 
Morse spent a few years in Europe, copying in the famous 
galleries and studying under the great teachers of England 
and -France. 

While in Europe Morse had learned much about the 
electro-magnet. As you know, Franklin had made some 
valuable experiments with electricity a century before, but 
thus far little had been accomplished in controlling and using 
an electric current. As a student, Morse had been greatly 



THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 



311 



interested in the subject of electricity, and now the old interest 
was revived by talk about the electro-magnet. 

In 1832, while on shipboard returning from Europe, he 
became greatly absorbed in the idea of possible communica- 
tion by means of an electric current. It was well known that 
a current interrupted in its circuit produced a spark. His 
first thought was to use, in combinations, the spark, its 
absence, and the duration of its absence, to rep- 
resent letters and words. He made an alphabet. 
Then he devised a machine for recording the in- 
terruptions of the current of electricity. It is said 
that the fundamental idea of the telegraph was 
worked out on that voy- 
age. It took him, how- 
ever, twelve years to put 
that idea into practical 
use. 

On his arrival in New 
York, Morse became pro- 
fessor of art literature in 
the University of the City 
of New York. Although 
the duties of his profession 
were along a different line 
of thought, he continued 
his experiments with the 

telegraph. His great difficulty was the lack of money. 
People were slow to lend it, because they did not under- 
stand the science underlying his idea. It was also a difficult 
thing to explain without actual demonstration, which costs 
money. But from 1832 to 1843, although Professor Morse 
was so very poor that he had to deny himself and his family 

MAK. & DEF. — 20 




Morse and his First Telegraphic 
Instrument 



312 MORSE 

often the necessaries of life, he persevered in his experi- 
ments. 

He apphed to Congress for help. A bill was introduced 
in the House of Representatives, appropriating $30,000 to be 
used by Morse in completing his experiments to prove that 
messages could be sent by electricity. Morse believed that 
if a message could be sent ten miles, it could be sent a thou- 
sand. Many men in speaking on the bill ridiculed it bitterly, 
but Morse and his friends succeeded in influencing enough 
men to pass it. For many days the Senate gave no attention 
to it. In fact, at the beginning of the evening session of the 
last day before adjournment in March, 1843, there were 119 
bills to be acted upon before this one. Morse went to his 
hotel utterly discouraged. The next morning he* was sur- 
prised to be told that the bill had passed the Senate five min- 
utes before closing. This assured him of the government's 
support to the extent of $30,000. 

Morse and his friends then worked rapidly, and by May 24, 
1844, a line connecting Washington and Baltimore was ready 
to be tested. Morse was in the office in Washington^ and a 
helper was at Baltimore. In each place were visitors. The 
daughter of a friend was asked to give a message. She 
replied, "What hath God wrought!" This was clicked over 
the wires. Then others asked questions and received answers 
from Baltimore. Some of the visitors believed, but others 
were mystified and regarded it as a hoax. 

The first important news transmitted by the electric 
telegraph was a report of the proceedings of the Democratic 
convention of 1844 in Baltimore. After Polk was nom- 
inated for President, the telegraph was used to notify Mr. 
Silas Wright in Washington that he had been nominated 
for Vice President. Mr. Wright declined the nomination. 



THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 313 

When his telegram was read to the convention, they decided 
to adjourn until a committee could go to Washington to 
see Mr. Wright in person. When that committee returned 
to give Mr. Wright's answer, just as it had been telegraphed 
the day before, the men were convinced that the telegraph 
was a great invention. People who knew little about 
electricity had queer notions about how a message was 
sent. Some even looked to see it going along the wires. 

Lines were rapidly put up, connecting the large cities, but 
men said that the wire would cost more than could be col- 
lected by sending messages. This seemed likely at first, for 
one day only twelve cents was taken in; the seventh day, 
sixty cents; the eighth day, one dollar and thirty cents was 
received. Since then, however, fabulous sums have been 
made by the telegraph companies. Professor Morse wanted 
to sell his rights to the government, but the government did 
not dare to buy. 

Professor Morse became a rich man, but he was rewarded 
also in other ways for his years of labor, poverty, and disap- 
pointment. The King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria 
each gave him a gold medal for his services to civilization. 
Ten European governments, represented in Paris in 1858, 
made up a purse of $80,000 as an expression of their appre- 
ciation of his services to the world. 

In June, 1871, there was unveiled a statue of Professor 
Morse, erected in Central Park, New York, at the expense of 
the telegraph operators of the country. Delegates were pres- 
ent from every state in the Union, and from the provinces of 
Canada. In the evening a great meeting was held in the 
Academy of Music. A telegraph instrument on the stage was 
in connection with every one of the 10,000 instruments in 
America. An operator stepped to the key and sent this 



3^4 



MORSE 



message: "Greetings and thanks to the telegraph fraternity 
throughout the world. Glory to God in the highest; peace, 
good will to men." Then Professor Morse stepped forward 
and, touching the key, sent out "S. F. B. Morse." 

His last public appearance was on February 22, 1872, when 
he unveiled the statue to Franklin in Printing House Square, 
New York. He lived to sec the valuable fruits of his labor. 




Laying the Atlantic Cable (1866) 

Not only was his invention then used by the whole civilized 
world, but it was regarded as absolutely necessary. 

Professor Morse early believed that messages could be 
sent under water as well as on land. He tried some experi- 
ments to prove this, but he willingly left the task of connecting 
America and Europe to younger men. To Cyrus W. Field 
belongs the honor of laying the first Atlantic cable, after many 
unsuccessful attempts. In August, 1858, two ships carrying 



THE ELECTRIC TELEGl^Pll 315 

miles of cable sailed to mid ocean. There the ends of the cable 
were spliced, and the ships parted and sailed in, opposite 
directions, one to Ireland and the other to Newfoundland, 
where the ends were connected with instruments. On Au- 
gust 16 this message was sent: " Europe and America are 
united by telegraph." A greeting from Queen Victoria 
to the President and his reply were sent. But a few days 
later the cable failed to work. It had broken, as had 
happened during many other attempts to lay cables. 

The Civil War came, and all attempts to lay another cable 
were given up. The summer after the war was over, the work 
was renewed, and in July, 1866, two cables were successfully 
laid. Since then all parts of the world have been brought 
into communication by telegraph and cable, both of which 
are of .great importance to the business and general welfare 
of nations. 

It was discovered in the early days of the telegraph that 
sounds were conveyed by the wires. This led to experiments 
on a telephone, which in 1876 was completed successfully, 
and was first publicly exhibited at the Centennial at Phil- 
adelphia. This was accomplished by the patient and 
persistent efforts of Alexander Graham Bell, then a teacher 
of visible speech to the deaf and dumb. He strung a wire 
between the first and fourth floors of his house, and devised 
a receiver and a transmitter that worked well. Men who 
saw it said that it would not work well out of doors, so the 
next task was to prove that it would. Short distance lines 
proved successful. Now many thousand miles of telephone 
wires are stretched throughout the country. A business 
man in New York can call up another in Chicago and com- 
plete an important piece of business in a few minutes. 

The reproduction or transmission of the human voice,. 



3l6 MORSE 

recognizable many miles away, seemed really the limit of 
wonders, but greater things hav^ been achieved. Now tele- 
graph messages are sent without wires. There was a time 
when an ocean voyage meant being cut off from home news 
for at least a week. Now many steamships are equipped 
with wireless machinery, and are in communication with 
points on both sides of the water and with passing ships. To 
the young Italian, Marconi, belongs the credit for this last 
great invention. 

These improved methods of communication have been of 
untold benefit to the world. Each one cost years of hard 
labor, sacrifices, and much discouragement, but the result 
has been abundantly worth the efforts. 

Topical Outline. — Methods of signaling. Morse as a boy and a 
painter. Interest in electricity. Twelve years experimenting on the 
telegraph. First line operated in 1844. Atlantic cable laid by Field 
in 1858. Telephone invented by Bell in 1876. Wireless telegraph by 
Marconi in 1902. 

For Written Work. — I. Write a paragraph on whichever of these 
inventions you think the greatest. II. Describe in full the workings 
of one of these methods of communication. 




Instrument for sending Telegrams 



EDISON AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT 

Probably one of the earliest forms of artificial light was 
the torch, or burning stick, such as a pine knot. This did 
very well for use in the open air, but produced too much 
smoke to be pleasant for house use. The Greeks and Romans 
used a simple lamp in the form of a covered cup with a small 
opening through which a piece of cloth was drawn. The 
lamp was filled with olive oil, and the piece of cloth served as 
a wick. 

In the colonial days of our country the tallow candle was 
chiefly used. The candle of tallow or wax has been widely 
used for centuries, and is popular to-day for decorations. The 
first lamps of modern days were filled with whale oil, but 
about the middle of the nineteenth century this was dis- 
placed by kerosene, which is much used to-day. The next 
step in advance was the introduction of illuminating gas, 
and men thought the perfect Hght had at last been found, 
but electricity in some respects is much better. The in- 
candescent light so famiHar to us is of recent invention. It 
is one of many devices invented by Thomas A. Edison. 

Edison, as he is usually called, was born in Ohio, Febru- 
ary II, 1847. His parents were poor, and the boy is said to 
have had only two months of school life. His mother, how- 
ever, was an intelligent woman, and she taught him to read 
and laid the foundations for the excellent work which he later 
did for himself. If ever there was a self-educated man, 

317 



3l8 EDISON 

Edison is a good example, for he is essentially well educated 
without having been to school. 

At the age of twelve, he became a newsboy on the Grand 
Trunk and Michigan Central Railroad, running from 
Toronto to Port Huron, Michigan. He sold papers and 
candy, and kept his eyes and ears open. He learned much 
from what he saw and heard, and he read everything that 
seemed to him worth reading. The story is told that he 
made up his mind to read a whole Hbrary. He selected a 
shelf and read every book in turn until he had devoured 
the contents of all standing on fifteen feet of shelving. 

His chief interest was in chemistry. He said he came to 
know every word in his first textbook on chemistry. But he 
was never satisfied merely to read about experiments. He 
rigged up a corner of the baggage car as a laboratory. Here 
he also printed a little sheet, "The Grand Trunk Herald," 
with type thrown away by a printing house. The paper con- 
tained railroad news, and both trainmen and travelers 
cheerfully bought it. 

Edison says that at the beginning of the Civil War he was 
working very hard but making little money. He had to be 
careful to get no more papers than he could sell, and on the 
other hand he wanted enough to meet the demand. This led 
him to study the headlines in estimating the number he could 
sell. Then it occurred to him to telegraph bits of war news 
to stations ahead of his train. The operator wrote these on 
a bulletin, and by the time Edison's train arrived crowds 
were calling for papers. 

Telegraphy had a peculiar fascination for him. He knew 
all the operators along his route, and he wanted to learn the 
business, but he could not afford to stop work and pay for 
lessons. Fortune favored him when he least expected it. He 



EARLY LIFE 319 

saved a small child from being run over by an approaching 
train, and the grateful father, who was an operator, taught 
young Edison without pay. At fifteen he became an oper- 
^tOY. When still a young man he invented a repeating 
instrument, a device by which a message could be forwarded 
on a second Hne without the presence of an operator. A 
little later he invented the famous duplex which made 
possible the sending of two messages over the wire at the 




Edison and the Phonograph 

same time. This has been modified and improved so 
that to-day the same wire can be used for four or six mes- 
sages at once. 

He is by nature an inventor. He makes this distinction 
between discovery and invention. "In a discovery there 
will be an element of the accidental. In my own case but 
few, and those the least important of my inventions, owed 
anything to accident. Most of them have been hammered 
out after long and patient labor, and are the result of count 



320 EDISON 

less experiments all directed toward some well determined 
object." Back in the days of the baggage-car laboratory he 
was not content to read about a battery, but he set to work 
and made one. It has been his good fortune that he is also 
a genius in mechanics. He has the skill to express an idea 
in material form. For example, he had an idea that a 
record of sounds uttered by the human voice could be 
made and preserved, so that the sounds could be reproduced 
at a later time. His mechanical skill served him in the 
actual construction of a contrivance carrying out that idea, 
and we have as a result the phonograph. 

Many scientists had worked on the problem of electric 
hghting. The arc light involved less difficulty than the 
incandescent lamp, which is a coil of wire in a glass bulb 
from which the air has been exhausted. Inventors failed 
with this at first because of the expense and its uncertainty. 
Edison mastered the difficulties, at the expense of much 
money, time, and patience. Every possible material was 
tried, and hundreds of lamps were kept burning and were 
carefully studied in order to determine just what conditions 
produced the best and most lasting Hght. To-day millions 
of people are enjoying the benefits. The light is clean, 
bright, odorless, and produces little heat. This can be said 
of no other mode of lighting houses. 

Edison's inventions patented by the United States govern- 
ment number nearly eight hundred. He has made a great 
deal of money, but he still finds his greatest pleasure in his 
laboratory experiments. His laboratory at West Orange, New 
Jersey, is the finest in the world. In one room twenty feet 
square are instruments that cost $18,000. In the storeroom 
are to be found every known metal, every chemical, every 
kind of glass, stone, wood, fiber, paper, and skin that can 



THE ELECTRIC LIGHT 32 1 

be used in experiments. The supplies in this room are 
valued at $100,000. This complete assortment of materials 
is kept to prevent delay in securing any substance at a critical 
time of experimentation. 

Edison has as his helpers the most skillful men to be found. 
When a man in any of the great establishments with which 
he is connected shows marked ability, he tests him and gives 
him special advantages. This often results in the addition 
of the man to the force of helpers at West Orange. 

In appearance Edison is of medium height and compactly 
built. His hair is quite gray, but his smooth-shaven face is 
fresh and boyish. His eyes are clear and steady, and, as he is 
somewhat deaf, he appears to listen with his eyes. He cares 
little for dress or personal luxury, but has a very beautiful 
home because he considers the happiness of his family. He 
is very patient with visitors and particularly kind and encour- 
aging to boys who show mechanical genius. 

Edison is regarded as America's greatest inventor and one 
of the greatest men of genius of this age. Although he started 
with but two months of schooling, he has succeeded because 
of his powers of application and concentration, persistent 
effort, and hard labor. 

The inventions by Morse, Edison, and Marconi are sup- 
plemented by the improved method of printing that brings 
the news to the masses of people. As you may know, 
Benjamin Franklin's press could print but one page at a 
time, and was worked by turning a crank by hand. To-day, 
through the inventions of Richard M. Hoe, there are presses 
run by 125 horse power of electricity, that print in an hour 
280 miles of paper the width of a newspaper. In other words, 
they turn out in an hour 96,000 sixteen-page papers, or 48,000 
thirty-two-page papers, all folded, pasted, and counted. 



322 



EDISON 



Topical Outline. — Early forms of lighting: torch, candle, lamp. 
Edison; newsboy and telegraph operator. Experiments on incan- 
descent lamp. Characteristics of the man. Services. 

For Written Work. — I. Describe a phonograph. II. Write on 
other uses of the incandescent lamp besides that of house-lighting. 
III. Write on any other things you have read about Edison. 

Collateral Reading 

History. — Eggleston, " Stories of American Life and Adventure," 
pp. 66-74; Hart and Chapman, " How our Grandfathers Lived," 
pp. 220-223; Earle, " Home Life in Colonicl Days," pp. 32-51. 

Biography. — Mowry, " American Inventions and Inventors," pp. 
67-89, 265-294; Hubert, "Inventors," pp. 111-155, 223-270. 




Modem Printing Press 



ADMIRAL DEWEY AND TEIE SPANISH WAR 



Spanish rule in Cuba for many years had been so cruel 
and oppressive that the island was in a constant state of rebel- 
lion. In 1895 P^^t ^^ the Cuban people succeeded in setting 
up a native government. Spain, fearing the consequences, 
sent over a governor general who employed more oppress- 
ive measures than had formerly been used. He drove the 
farmers into the 
towns to live, and 
then he destroyed 
their crops and 
buildings. This 
deprived the Cu- 
ban army of the 
food supplies usu- 
ally furnished by 
the farmers. When the country people reached the towns, 
they were compelled to live in most unsanitary conditions, 
and were allowed little and poor food. 

The people of the United States were shocked at such 
treatment, and indignantly demanded that Spain should be 
more humane in dealing with the Cubans. Finally, our 
government sent the battleship Maine to Havana harbor 
because, in such troublous times, American citizens and Amer- 
ican interests in Cuba were likely to suffer. 

On the night of February 15, 1898, this battleship was 
blown up and 266 lives were lost. Many Americans believed 

323 



KeyWest..^^^^^^ 
Havana^-svy'^-- 

ISLE OF 
PINES 

JAMA 


Nassau «6. 


■^ ^ SCALE OF MILES 

^ ^ 6 160 260 360 


Santi i- 1, ( , 1 I 
ICA^^4^ * 



West Indies 



324 



GEORGE DEWEY 



the Spanish authorities were responsible for the outrage. 
The government tried to make a 'peaceable settlement with 
Spain, but failed. On April ii, President McKinley, in a 
special message to Congress, said, "In the name of human- 
ity and civilization, the war in Cuba must stop." Congress 

declared war against Spain 
April 25, and the commander 
farthest from home won the first 
victory. This was Commodore 
Dewey, who was in command of 
an American fleet temporarily 
stationed at Hongkong, China. 

George Dewey was born in 
Montpelier, Vermont, in Decem- 
ber, 1837, and was graduated 
from the United States Naval 
Academy in 1858. In 1861 he 
was commissioned lieutenant 
and served under Admiral Far- 
ragut in the Mississippi cam- 
paign in 1862-63. Later in the 
war, he served in the North Atlantic blockading squadron. 

After the Civil War, Dewey received in turn the ranks of 
Commander, Captain, and Commodore, and served in many 
waters. In January, 1898, he was given command of the 
Asiatic squadron, " An assignment then considered but little 
short of exile," says Lodge. 

After the destruction of the Maine, when war with Spain 
seemed probable, Commodore Dewey under orders of our 
government began to prepare his vessels for active service 
in the harbor of Hongkong. When war was declared, he 
was ordered to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet in the 




SEA 



The Philippines 



THE SPANISH WAR 



325 



Philippine waters. This was very necessary, for otherwise 
it was thought these ships might attack the American 
cities on the Pacific coast. 

One of Commodore Dewey's striking characteristics was 
his readiness to meet an emergency. His men were under 
splendid disciphne; his ships were in good shape and well 
supplied for action. Five days after war was declared, 
Dewey's fleet had traveled over six hundred miles, and on 
the night of April 30th was steaming into Manila Bay, 
where he knew the Spanish squadron was to be found. 

The American fleet consisted of nine swift, well-armed ships, 
but not one of them was armor-clad. At the entrance to the 
bay lie two islands on which were strong fortifications, but, 
like Farragut of old, Dew^ey took his chances in passing these 
forts. The night was dark, not a light was visible, and not a 
sound could be heard save the throbbing of the engines. 
The flagship Olympia took the lead, and the other ships 
silently followed in line. They were well in the channel 
before they were discovered. A few shots were exchanged; 
then came quiet, and daylight found Dewey's fleet far up 
the bay. 

Manila Bay is about thirty miles long. Manila is twenty- 
six miles and Cavite is sixteen miles from the entrance to 
the bay. Close under the batteries of Cavite lay the 
Spanish fleet. As Senator Lodge says, "The moment had 
come. It came fortunately to a man who knew exactly 
what he meant to do. . . . Commodore Dewey had 
his plan thoroughly laid out, and now proceeded to carry 
it into execution." 

The Commodore got his two supply boats into a safe posi- 
tion, and then his fleet moved past Cavite. Two or three 
mines exploded, but did no injury. The Spanish batteries 



326 



GEORGE DEWEY 



and ships fired, but the Americans had been instructed 
'' to hold fire until close in. " Whfen within a httle less than 
three miles of the Spanish ships, Dewey said to the Captain 
of the Olympia, "If you are ready, Gridley, you may fire." 
Then the signal went up, "Fire as convenient." This was 
followed by the order, "Open with all the guns." 

The American ships, firing deadly broadsides, passed and 
repassed the Spanish fleet five times, each time a little nearer 




Battle of Manila Bay 

than before. The Spanish flagship bravely darted out toward 
the Olympia, but the storm of shot directed on her tore up 
her deck and exploded her boilers, killing 150 of her crew. 
Several other ships that ventured out were treated in a similar 
way. 

After two hours, Commodore Dewey gave the signal to 
cease firing and follow the flagship. They moved toward the 



THE SPANISH WAR 327 

opposite side of the bay, where they ate breakfast, cleaned the 
decks, and rested. Three hours later, at a quarter before 
eleven, the battle was renewed; and it ended early in the 
afternoon with the complete destruction of the Spanish fleet. 
After raising the white Hag, the Spanish admiral fled to 
Manila. Soon the shore batteries were silenced. Dewey's 
orders had been to capture or destroy the fleet. He had com- 
pletely destroyed it without the loss of a ship or of a man, and 
only eight of his men had been at all injured. A little later 
an army was sent to take possession of Manila. 

Senator Lodge says, "The secret. of this great victory was 
in the accuracy and rapidity of the American gunners. This 
great quality was not accidental, but due to skill, practice, 
and national aptitude. In addition to this traditional skill 
was the genius of the commander, backed by the fighting 
capacity of his captains and his crews." The same quahties 
were shown two months later in the destruction of the other 
Spanish fleet off Santiago. 

In recognition of Dewey's services. Congress voted him a 
$10,000 sword, and the rank of Admiral was revived and 
conferred upon him. On September 26, 1899, he arrived in 
New York in his famous flagship Olympia, and received the 
grandest reception ever given to a public officer. The dem- 
onstration included a naval parade on September 29, and a 
land parade the following day. 

As a result of this war with Spain, Porto Rico and the 
Philippine Islands were ceded to the United States, and Cuba 
was granted independence under the protection of our gov- 
ernment. 



Topical Outline. — Spanish oppression in Cuba. Destruction of 
the Maine. War declared. Dewey ordered to capture or destroy the 

MAK. & DEF. — 21 




328 



THE SPANISH WAR 



329 



Asiatic fleet of Spain. Battle of Manila. Santiago victory. Dewey's 
return. Results of the war. 

For Written Work. — I. As one of the crew of the Olympia, describe 
that Sunday morning's work in Manila Bay. II. Describe another 
event of this war, lliat you have read about elsewhere. 

Map Work. — Locate Hongkong, Manila Bay, Santiago. 

For Collateral Reading. — Johnson, " The Hero of Manila." 



Scene in the Philippines 



i(^*^\ 



ir^' 




ANDREW CARNEGIE — THE PHILANTHROPIST 

There is a man known and respected by all Americans, 
who was neither a soldier nor inventor, but a successful 
business man and philanthropist. The life of this man 

should be an inspiration to every 
ambitious boy, for all his wealth 
has come from his own work. 

Andrew Carnegie was born at 
Dunfermline,^ Scotland, Novem- 
ber 25, 1837. His father was a 
master weaver, and his mother a 
thrifty housewife, who found time 
to give her boys the best of care 
and training. She taught Andrew 
at home until he was eight, when 
he was sent to a pubhc school. 
The schoolmaster began the 
day's work with a scripture les- 
son, and the boys were once 
asked to give a text from the Proverbs of Solomon. Now 
Andy had been well instructed in the Bible, but that morn- 
ing, when his turn came, he responded with, ''Take care 
of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves." 
This shows that his mother began early to start her boy on 
the road to become a rich man. 




Andrew Carnegie 



1 In Fife County, north of the Firth of Forth; a few miles northwest 
of Edinburgh. 

330 



BOYHOOD 331 

Andrew's father was a prosperous weaver; he had four 
damask-looms and kept several apprentices. But early in 
the 'forties, machines rapidly displaced the hand looms, and 
one day, when Andrew was ten, his father announced that 
there was no more work for him. It was a serious prospect, 
for everywhere in England and Scotland were the same con- 
ditions. 

They decided to move to America. As some relatives had 
previously settled in Pittsburg, the Carnegies went directly 
to that city on their arrival in 1848. The father found work 
in a cotton mill, and Andrew became a bobbin boy at $1.20 a 
week. He says that although he has handled many millions 
of dollars since, no money has ever given him so much pleas- 
ure as that dollar and twenty cents at the end of a hard 
week's work of twelve-hour days. He shared in the expenses 
of the family, and formed the habit of saving a little each week. 

The next year he fired an engine in a factory at an increase 
of pay, but the work was distasteful to him. He was on the 
lookout for something better, and within a year had work as 
a telegraph messenger boy at $2.50 a week. This delighted 
him because he could be out of doors. But he met difficulties, 
for he did not know the city. So this fourteen-year-old boy 
set to work committing to memory the location of every 
prominent business house, until he could close his eyes and 
tell exactly where each was located. He says, however, 
that one difficulty of the business he failed to master. It was 
the custom, if anything was the matter, to send one of the boys 
up a telegraph pole, to repair the wire. Carnegie says he 
tried his best to climb one of those poles, but failed. 

He had been employed as a messenger but one month when 
he l^egan to learn telegraphy. He used his spare time at the 
instruments, and, from the first, trained himself to receive by 



332 ANDREW CARNEGIE 

sound instead of by reading the tape. At sixteen, he was an 
operator. He was thorough and exact in all he did, and men 
sought him for these special qualities. Newspaper men asked 
him to prepare "copy" of news received over the wire. This 
gratified a peculiar desire he had to write for publication, and 
it added a little to his income. 

Superintendent Scott of the Pittsburg Division of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad came to know his accuracy, and selected 
young Carnegie as the operator for his most important mes- 
sages. In time Mr. Scott decided that Carnegie was just 
the kind of boy he wanted in his own office. During the 
period of Carnegie's work in the superintendent's office, 
there were many times when his integrity and good judgment 
were well tested. He did his work so well that he became 
superintendent himself when still very young. 

Each promotion after he was sixteen meant much, for 
Andrew's father had died, and, being the elder son, Andrew 
felt responsible for his mother's comfort. He was always 
devoted to his mother, and often says that he owes his 
success to her training when he was a child, and to her 
encouragement when he became a man. 

When war broke out, Mr. Scott became Assistant Secretary 
of War, and Carnegie became Assistant Superintendent of 
Military Railroads and Telegraphs. Although he never 
enlisted, young Carnegie was the third man wounded. He 
was not wounded by a bullet, but by a bounding wire when he 
was working on a special telegraph line for receiving war news 
from the field. He sent messages to the War Department from 
the front, and devised a code for cipher dispatches. After 
one year of service, he and Mr. Scott returned to Pittsburg. 

Soon after this, a man came to him one day with a model 
of a sleeping car. Carnegie saw at once that the idea was 



BUSINESS MAN 



333 



good. He consulted Mr. Scott, and through their influence 
the Pennsylvania Railroad put on its line the first sleeping 
cars used in America. Carnegie invested in their manufac- 
ture, which proved to be a very profitable business. 

When he became superintendent of the Pittsburg Division, 
the question of bridges occupied miicli of his thought. 




Making Steel 

Bridges of wood burned and decayed and were often washed 
away by the floods, and it was largely through him that iron 
bridges were substituted. He believed so thoroughly in the 
idea, that, as in the case of the sleeping cars, he became 
interested in their manufacture. The Keystone Bridge Com- 
pany, of which he was a large stockholder, sold bridges all 
over the country. 



334 ANDREW CARNEGIE 

Carnegie always had a desire to improve whatever he 
worked with. Reahzing the superiority of steel over iron 
for many things, he set to work to make steel. Pittsburg is 
in the midst of a great iron-producing section. Carnegie 
established furnaces where steel is made by forcing powerful 
currents of air through molten iron to remove the carbon. 
For several years he was the leading figure in the steel- 
producing world. 

Andrew Carnegie had many men in his employ, and his 
treatment of them is interesting. He had the reputation 
of paying the best wages in the country for the kind of work 
done, and long ago he favored an eight-hour day. He 
would have no laggards in his employ. He said he was 
willing to pay well for work, but not for loafing. He gave 
four million dollars for pensions to worthy men in his 
employ. 

He is famous for his young men partners. He often 
took capable young men from the unskilled ranks and put 
them into places of responsibility. If they were successful, 
they were taken into partnership. Carnegie says that 
honesty, industry, and concentration are the qualities 
necessary for success in business. He himself is a good 
example of the practical value of these virtues, and they 
are possible to any boy. ^ 

Carnegie is a philanthropist as well as a good business 
man. His favorite benefaction is in the form of public 
libraries. He says this is prompted from his own experience. 
As a young boy he wanted books, but had few, until Colonel 
Anderson let him come to his private library and select books 
to take home and read. He regards that as one of the great- 
est privileges of his boyhood, and he is eager to put books 
within the reach of every poor boy to-day. Up to June, 



PHILANTHROPIST 335 

1907, Carnegie had given away $167,000,000, and about 
one third of this amount was for the founding of pubHc 
libraries. 

The story is told that, as a little boy in Dunfermline, he 
used to look through the iron fence into a private park and 
long to go in and play. When he became wealthy, he went 
back to Dunfermline, bought that park, and gave it to the 
town to be free for every one. The line old mansion in the 
park was made into a clubhouse with reading rooms for 
old and young. He also gave $10,000,000 for universities 
in Scotland. He built a beautiful castle near his boyhood 
home, and usually spends a part of each year there. 

Mr. Carnegie is the author of several books, in one of which 
he says he believes that "the man who has neglected to help 
his fellows during life dies disgraced." He has enjoyed mak- 
ing money and possessing great wealth because of the good 
he can do with it. Although over seventy, he is still fond of 
outdoor life. He is also devoted to children. Men say that 
you cannot look into his face and catch the twinkle of his 
blue eyes without feeling that you would like to know him 
better. 

Topical Outline. — Birthplace in Scotland. Boyhood of hard work. 
Became a telegraph operator. Service in war time. Maker of sleeping 
cars and iron bridges. Great steel industry. Generous gifts for public 
good. 

For Written Work. — I. What do you particularly like about Mr. 
Carnegie? Give your reasons. II. Write a paragraph on the good of 
public libraries. III. Explain why honesty, industry, and concentra- 
tion are necessary to business success. 

Map Work. — Locate Dunfermline, Scotland; Pittsburg. 



INDEX 



Diacritic marks : a as in late ; a as vafat; a as nx/ar ; a as in what ; aw as in saw ; 
e as in me ; e as in met, berry ; e as in her ; e as in veii ; g as in g^em ; g as in go ; \ as 
in mine ; i as in tin ; i as in police ; 5 as in note ; 6 as in not ; oo as \n/ool ; s as in news ; 
u as in tune ; u as in nut; u as in bush ; y as in city. Italic letters are silent. 



Ad'ams, John, 26, 115, 120. 

Adams, John Quincy, 175, 

Adams, Samuel, 20-30, 31, 32. 

Al-a-bd'7na, warship, 295, 296, 303. 

Alabama Claims, 303. 

A-las'ka, purchase of, 303. 

Albany (awl'ba-ny), and Erie Canal, 222. 

Al'be-marle, ship, 296. 

Al-ex-an'dri-a, Lee at, 274, 

Al-le-g^e'ny Mountains, 140. 

Allegheny River, 47. 

Al'len, E'than, 56. 

An'der-son-ville, 299. 

An-nap'o-lis, no. 

An-t/e'tam, battle of, 254, 281. 

Ap-po-mat'tox Court House, surrender 

at, 255, 270, 286. 
Ar'Iing-ton, Lee at, 275. 
Army of the Potomac, 279, 266. 
Army of Virginia, 278, 279. 
Ar'nold, Ben'e-dict, 82, 84-85, 67-68. 
Articles of Confederation, 111-113. 
Ash'land, 181. 
At-lan'ta, captured by Sherman, 267. 

Bar'clay, Captain, 153, 155. 

Bar'ton, Clara, 299-301. 

Bell, Alexander GraV/am, 315. 

Bel'voir, 42. 

Be'mis Heights, battles of, 84-85. 

Ben'ning-ton, battle of, 78-79, 

Black Hawk War, 239. 

Don Homme Richard (bo-nom' re- 

shar'), 107-109. 
Boon^, Daniel, 141-147. 



Boon(?s'bor-o«^/^, 145, 7:47. 

Boston, "Massacre," 23; "tea party," 

24-26; siege of, 34-36, 55, 56. 
Brad'dock, General, 48, 49. 
Bran'dy-wine Creek, 65. 
Brown, John, 245, 276, 277. 
Buck'ner, General, 264. 
Buf'fa-lo, and Erie Canal, 222. 
Bull Run, battle of, 252; second battle 

of, 254. 
Bunk'er Hill, battle of, 34-37, 54. 
Bur-goyn^', General, 64, 74-79, 83-87. 
Burn'side, General, 281. 
Burr, Aaron, 138. 
But'ler, General, 292. 

Cab'i-net, First, 116. 
Cable, telegraph, 314, 315. 
Calhoun (cal-hoon'), John C, 197, 199. 
Cal-i-for'ni-a, 187, 189. 
Cam'bridge, 54. 
Cam 'den, battle of, 91. 
Can'a-da, 9. 

Cape Bret'on fisheries, 106. 
Car-nSg'k, Andrew, 330-335. 
Ca-vi'te, battle of, 325-328. 
Ce'dar Creek', battle of, 269. 
Chads Ford, battle of, 65. 
Chan'cel-lors-vilie, battle of, 281. 
Charl^s'ton, 91. 

Charlottesville (shiir'lots-vil), 117; Uni- 
versity of Virginia at, 123, 
Chat'/^am, 228. 
Chat-ta-noo'ga, 264, 266. 
Che-raw', 94. 



337 



338 



INDEX 



Circuit riding, 242. 

Cities, growth of, 305. 

Civil Rights Bill. 303. 

Civil War, 251-256, 262-270, 277-286, 

291-299. 
Clark, George Rog'ers, 113. 
Clark, William, 126. 
Clay, Henry, 178-190. 
Cler'mont, 216-218. 
Clin'ton, De Witt, 220-222. 
Clinton, General Henry, 67, 91. 
Colonies, 9. 
Committees of Correspondence, 22, 24- 

27. 
Compromise of 1820, 185. 
Compromise of 1850, 189, 202, 245, 246. 
Concord (kong'kerd), battle of, 33-34- 
Con-es-to'ga wagons, 183. 
Confederate states, 250, 277. 
Constitution, 115, 135. 
Coi/sfifutioJt, frigate, 160. 
Continental Congress, 16, 27, 54, 56, 

111-113. 
Continental currency, 134. 
Corn-wal'lis, 58, 61, 63, 69, 91, 93-95. 
Cotton gin, 185, 207-209. 
Cow'pens, battle of, 95. 
Crai'gi^ homestead, 55. 
Creek War, 171-172. 
Critical period, 111-115. 
Crown Point captured, 56. 
Cru'ger, Nicholas, 130. 
Cu'ba, 323-324, 328. 
Cul'pep-er County, 43. 
Cum'ber-land Gap, 144. 
Cumberland Road, 184. 
Cush'ing, Lieutenant, 296, 297. 
Cus'tis, Martha, 50, 52. 
Custis, Mary Randolph, 275. 

Dart'm(7uth College, 195. 

Da'vy, Humphry, 224. 

Dear'born, General, 150, 151, 

De-ca'tur, 156, 157. 

Declaration of Independence, 120-122. 

De Kalb', Baron, 163. 

Dent, Julia, 261. 



Dew'ey, George, 324-328. 

Dick'jn-son, Charles, 170. 

Dix, Dorothy, 298. 

D(?ug'las, Stephen A., 245, 247-248. 

Dred Scott decision, 246. 

Dun-ferm'lin^, 330, 335. 

Early (er'ly). General Jubal, 268. 

Ed'i-son, Thomas A., 317-321. 

Electric light, 320. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 254, 302. 

Em'er-son, 34. 

England, War of Revolution, 9-109 ; War 

of 1812 with, 149-160. 
Era of good feeling, 182. 
Er'ics-son, John, 254. 
E'rie Canal, 219-223. 
Ex'e-ter, N.H., 194. 

Fair'fax, Lord, 42, 

Fair Oaks, battle of, 280. 

Fan'<?«/1 Hall, 23. 

Far'ra-gut, David Glasgow, 288-294. 

Field, Cyrus W^, 314. 

Fifteenth Amendment, 303. 

Flag, 81, 105. 

Ylaxn'hor-ough Head, Jones at, 108. 

Flor'i-da, purchase of, 174. 

Foot^, 263. 

Fore'man, Judge, 219. 

Fort Don'el-son, 263. 

Fort Duquesne (du-kan'), 47-49. 

Fort Henry, 263. 

Fort Le Boe&fff 45. 

Fort Lee, 61. 

Fort Mimms, 171. 

Fort Necessity, 48. 

Fort Schuyler (ski'ler), 79. 

Fort Stan'wix, 79-82. 

Fort Sum'ter, 251, 277. 

Fort Wash'ing-ton, 61. 

Fourteenth Amendment, 303. 

France, ally of America, 107. 

Frank'lin, N.H., 191. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 107, 114, 120, 124. 

Fraunce's tavern, 71. 

Fred'er-icks-burg, 38; battle of, 281. 



INDEX 



339 



Free'man's farm, battles of, 84, 85. 
Free Soil'ers, 247. 
French and Indian War, 9, 44-49. 
Fugitive Slave Law, 246. 
Ful'ton, Robert, 213-218. 

Gag<f, General, 26, 31, 36. 

Ga-le'na, Grant at, 262. 

Gates, General, 83-86, 91. 

Ged'des, James, 220. 

Gen-e-see' turnpike, 219. 

Ge-ne'va Award, 303. 

George 111,9, ^o- ^^9- 

Ger'man-town, battle of, 65. 

Get'tys-burg, battle of, 255, 283, 284. 

G^ent, treaty of, 173. 

Gist, Christopher, 45, 46, 47. 

Gold, discovery of, 187. 

Golden Hill, battle of, 130. 

Gore, Christopher, 196. 

Go-wa'nus Bay, 57. 

Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 258-273. 

Gr-dsse, Count de, 69. 

Great Meadows, 47. 

Greene, Na-than'a-el, 89-97. 

Green'way Court, 43. 

GwTl'ford Court House, battle of, 95. 

Hale, Nathan, 98-102. 

Ham'il-ton, Alexander, 124, 129-139. 

Hamp'ton Roads, 254. 

Han'cock, John, 26, 31, 32, 122. 

Hanks, Nancy, 231. 

Han'o-ver, N.H., 195. 

Har'lem Heights, battle of, 59. 

Har'pers Fer'ry, 276, 277. 

Har'ri-son, William Henry, 151. 

Hayn^, Senator, 199. 

Henry, Patrick, 13-19, 118, 119. 

Her'ki-mer, General, 79-80. 

Her'mit-age, 174. 

Hern'don, William H,, 242. 

Hoe, Richard M., 321, 

Hook'er, General, 282. 

Hop'kins, Commodore, 104. 

House of Burgesses, 13. 

Hov^, E-li'as, 210-212. 



Howe, General, in Revolution, 57-61, 64, 

65. 67, 83. 
Hull, General, 150, 151. 
Hutch'in-son, Governor, 22, 23. 

Immigration, 305. 
In-di-an-ap'o-lis, 184. 
Indians, and Boone, 143-147. 
Inventions, 205-218, 224-228, 306-321. 
Ir-o-quoi^' Indians, 74. 

Jack'son, Andrew, 168-177. 
Jackson, General T. J., 280-282. 
Ja-ma^'ca, 58. 
Jay, John, 114, 116, 135. 
Jef'fer-son, Thomas, 1 17-128. 
John'son, Sarah, 234. 
John'ston, Albert Sidney, 264. 
Johnston, General Joseph E., 280. 
Jones, John Paul, 103-110. 

Kan'sas, 245, 246. 

Kear' surge, warship, 295, 296. 

Ken-tuck'y, 142-147. 

Kings Mountain, battle of, 91. 

Knox, Henry, 116. 

La-fa-yet/^', 64, 69, 162-167. 

Lake Champlain (sham-plan'), battle on, 

156-159- 

Lake E'rie, battle on, 153-155. 

Law'rence, Captain, 154. 

Lee, General Charles, 67. 

Lee, Major Henry, 93, 96. 

Lee, Robert E,, 274-287; at Appomat- 
tox, 270, 286. 

Le/th, Jones at, 107. 

Lew'is, Mer'i-weth-er, 126. 

Lex'ing-ton, battle of, 32. 

Lexington, Kentucky, 180. 

Light, artificial, 317, 320. 

Lin'co/n, Abraham, 230-257. 

Lincoln-Douglas debates, 247. 

Liv'er-more, Mary, 298. 

Liv'ing-ston, Robert R., 120. 

Long Island, battle of, 57-58. 

Lou-i-^i-an'a (I00-), purchase of, 125. 



340 



INDEX 



McClel'lan, General, 254, 280, 281. 

McCor'mick, Cyrus Hall, 306-308. 

McCr^a, Jane, 78. 

McKin'ley, President, 324. 

Mad'i-son, James, 135. 

Maine, battleship, 323, 

Mal'vern Hill, 281. 

Ma-nas'sas, battle of, 281. 

Ma-nil'a Bay, battle of, 325-328. 

Mar-co'ni, 316. 

Mare Island navy yard, 291. 

Mar'i-on, the Swamp Fox, 69. 

Marsh 'field, Webster at, 202. 

Mayr^, Rev. James, 40. 

Mer'ri-mac and Monitor, 253, 294, 295. 

Mex'i-co, war with, 187, 260, 261. 

Mint, 137. 

Min'ute-men, 27. 

Mis-sis-sip'pi River, in Civil War, 264, 

291, 292. 
Missouri (mi-soo'ri), 185, 
Missouri Compromise, 245. 
Mo-bill?', in War of 1812, 172. 
Mobile Bay, battle of, 293, 294. 
Molasses Act, 10. 
Mon'i-tor and Merrimac, 



253. 294, 



295- 



Mon'mouth, battle of, 67, 163. 
Mo-non-ga-he'la River, 47. 
Mon-te-re_j/', battle of, 260. 
Mon-ti-cel'lo, 118-119, 127. 
Mor'gan, General, 94-96. 
Mor'ris, Robert, 63. 
Mors^, Samuel Finley Breese, 309-316. 
Mount McGreg'or, Grant at, 272. 
Mount Vernon, 42, 44, 49, 52. 

Na-po'le-on, and Louisiana, 125. 

Nas'sau, capture of, 105. 

Navy, in Revolution, 103-109; in War 
of 18 12, 153-160. 

Nev'is, Hamilton at, 129. 

New Or'le-ans, battle of, 173; in Civil 
War, 291-292. 

New York, in Revolution, 57-61 ; capi- 
tal, 135 ; western trade of, 219, 222. 

Nor'fo/k, Farragut at, 291. 



Northwest Territory, ii^, 185. 
Nueqps (nwa'ses) River, 187. 

O-hi'o, growth of, 182. 
Old Hickory, 174. 
0-n<fi'das, 74. 
Ordinance of 1787, 114. 
Or'e-gon Country, 126. 
O-ris'ka-ny, battle of, 80-81. 
O'tis, James, 10-12, 22. 

Pain^, Thomas, 113. 
Pa'lo Al'to, battle of, 260. 
Paper money, 134. 
Par'lia-ment, 11. 
Pen-in'su-lar Campaign, 280. 
Pen-sa-co'Ia, 172. 
Per'ry, Oliver Hazard, 152-156. 
Pe'ters-burg, siege of, 285. 
Phil-a-del'phi-a, in Revolution, 65, 66; 
Convention, 114 ; western trade of, 219. 
Phil'ip-pTn^s, 324-328. 
Phonograph, 320. 
Pick'ett, General, 283, 284. 
Pit'cairn, Major, 31-33. 
Pitts'burg, 49 ; Carnegie in, 331. 
Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 264. 
Platts'burg, battle of, 158-160. 
Por'ter, Captain David, 289, 294. 
Por'to Ri'co, 328. 

Ports'm^uth, N.H., Webster at, 196. 
Po-t5'mac River, 280. 
Prairie schooners, 183. 
Presque Isle (presk el'), 45. 
Prince'ton, battle of, 63. 
Put-in-Bay, battle of, 154-155. 
Put'nam, General, 75. 

Queens'town, battle of, 151. 

Railroads, 223-228, 305. 
Ran'dolph, Edmund, 116. 
Rap-i-dan' River, 267, 284. 
Rap-pa-han'nock River, 38. 
Reaper, 306. 

Red Cross Society, 300-301. 
Red Jacket, 166. 



INDEX 



34: 



Republican party, 247. . 

Re-vere', Paul, 31, 32, 

Revolution, causes of, 9-28 ; War of, 31- 

36, 54-109, 169-170. 
Rich'mond, siege of, 268, 269, 285, 286, 

253. 
Ri'o Griin'de, 187. 

Rochambeau (ro-shang-bo') , Count, 152. 
Roch'es-ter, and Erie Canal, 222. 
Rtfo'se-velt, 159-160, 256. 

St. Leg'er, 64, 74, 79-83. 

St. Louis (loo'is), Grant at, 260-262. 

Salisbury (sawlz'ber-i), N.H., 191, 192. 

San'ga-mon River, 238. 

Sanitary Commission, 298. 

Sar'a-nac River, 157. 

Sar-a-to'ga, surrender at, 65, 85. 

Sa-van'nah, in Revolution, 91 ; taken by 

Sherman, 267. 
Schenectady (ske-nec'ta-dy), 227. 
Schenectady boats, 183. 
Schuyler (ski'Ier), Philip, 76-83, 86-87. 
Schuylkill (skool'kil) River, 65. 
Scotch-Irish, 140. 
Se-ra'pis, 107-109. 
Seven Days' Battles, 281. 
Sewing machine, 209-212. 
Sharps'burg, battle of, 254, 281. 
Shen-an-do'ah Valley, 42 ; in Civil War, 

268, 269, 280. 
Sher'i-dan, General, 268, 269. 
Sher'man, General, 266-267. 
Sherman, Roger, 120. 
Shi'loh, battle of, 264. 
Signaling, 309. 
Slavery, 184-189, 202, 244-249; ended, 

254, 302. 
Sons of Liberty, 130, 132. 
South, the, 249; see Civil War. 
South Carolina, and nullification, 176, 

185 ; secession of, 250. 
Spain, war with, 324-328. 
Spoils System, 176. 
Spot Resolutions, 244. 
Spring'field, Lincoln at, 241. 
Stamp Act, 11, 14-16. 



Stamp Act Congress, 21. 

Stark, John, 78-79, 

Stars and Stripes, 81. 

Steamboat, 216-218. 

Steel making, 333-334. 

Stephenson (ste'ven-sun), George, 223- 

227. 
Sl<?ii'bcn, Baron, 66. 
Still'wa-ter, battles of, 84, 85. 
Stu'art, General J, E. B., 280. 
Sj^r'a-cuse, and Erie Canal, 222. 

Tariff, 176, 182, 185, 198. 

Tea tax, 24-26. 

Telegraph, 309-316. 

Telephone, 315. 

Terre Haute (ter'e-hot'), 184. 

Tex 'as, 260. 

Thirteenth Amendment, 302. 

Ti-con-der-o'ga, 56, 75-76. 

Todd, Mary, 243. 

Tories, 74, 132, 

Tren'ton, battle of, 62. 

Trip'o-li, 157. 

Valley Forge, 65, 66. 
Val-pa-rai'so, the Essex at, 290. 
Van Briiam', Jacob, 45. 
Van Renj'se-laer, General, 150, 151. 
\'e-nan'go, 45. 

Vicks'burg, capture of, 253, 255, 264-266. 
Vir-gin'i-a, in Revolution, 14-18; Jeffer- 
son and, 122, 123. 

Wal'la-bout Bay, 57. 

War of 1812, 149-160, 181, 289-290. 

Wash'ing-ton, City of, 160. 

Washington, George, 38-72, 98 ; and 
Lafayette, 163 ; in Constitutional Con- 
vention, 114. 

Washington, Colonel William, 93, 95, 96. 

Washington and Lee University, 286. 

Wa-tau'ga River, 142. 

Web'ster, Daniel, 191-204. 

Wee-haw'ken, 139. 

West, growth of, 182. 

West Point Military Academy, 259. 



342 



INDEX 



White-ha'ven, Jones at, 107. 
White Plains, battle of, 61. 
Wiiit'ney, Eli, 205-209. 
Wilderness, battles of the, 268, 285, 
Wil'liams-burg, 13; Jefferson at, 117. 
Wil'ming-ton, 95. 
Wil'mot Proviso, 244. 



Wins'low, Captain, 295. 
Wor'den, Lieutenant, 294, 295. 
Wright, Silas, 312. 
Writs of Assistance, 10, 11. 
Wyth^, George, 179. 

York'town campaign, 69-70, 164. 



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